A couple of years ago, I was up in San Francisco visiting an old pal of mine. Throughout high school, she guided my evolution through hipsterdom. By this time, however, I had long since moved on from The Strokes and The Unicorns, as I had had three years of continuous exposure to new music through KCPR.
We shared a lunch of leftover Indian food, and I told her about some of the bands that I had recently discovered, which were mostly bullshit DIY bands that lacked any sort of musical talent or emotional maturity, much like myself. As I’m sure you can imagine, this got boring really fast, so she went to her iTunes and started playing Yacht, then she gave me gin and told me we were going to a party. This was my introduction to Yacht, in a dingy apartment in San Francisco with a glass of gin and tonic as a pre-party psych mix.
Now I’m sitting in KCPR listening to Yacht’s new album entitled “See Mystery Lights” off of DFA records trying to slam out my first “Hipster Bullshit” column of the school year, because I know that it will be an easy album to review. There is nothing inaccessible about it. It’s the kind of album I could show anybody and anybody would like it. In fact, I bet it’s on mtvU right now. You’re actually probably reading this in the Avenue with your box of chicken nuggets, side of ranch and 42oz of Sobe Life Water. I bet you could look up right now and Yacht’s newest music video would be up on the screen.
The single is “Summer Song,” and it has everything you need for a dance jam hit of the year.
The style is straight forward synth-pop with vocal effects that don’t distort Yacht’s vocals in that bastardized, pseudo-lo-fi way. Instead, he goes balls out and actually produces his album so that it sounds good and is radio-friendly.
It’s simple, but not so formulaic that you would get bored halfway through the album. You’ll be able to throw it on while you and you’re posse apply appropriate amounts of eye makeup and fragrance to complement your neon outfits that will serve as the costume for your ‘80s themed parties. It’ll get the blood flowing to the appropriate areas with electronic compositions, perfect for alcohol-induced overly sexual behavior.
You might insist that you are only joking when “Don’t Fight The Darkness” comes on, with the introduction sounding vaguely like Ying Yang Twins’ “Wait (Whisper Song)” and you start getting just a little bit touchy. But, let’s face it, you aren’t wearing a white blazer with a pink under-shirt or a black leotard with an asymmetrical pony-tail and legwarmers for sensibility’s sake. You’re here to have some fun without pretension and to get pretty damn silly.
Speaking of pretension, KCPR is accepting applications for new DJs — just come by the station in building 26 room 301. Also, Brightblack Morning Light will be playing at Downtown Brew this Tuesday. We will be there.