On the record with Freshkills
By Sheba White
Published: September 11th, 2008 | 10:00am
Freshkills make music that you wish was played at your anti-prom. The Brooklyn band’s sound is a mix of anxious vocals and nerdy beats that bring to mind all the best parts of non-conformist, youthful discomfort: false bravado, plaid cummerbund, fishnet stockings, incriminating photos, and all.
Just prior to the September 2 self-release of their self-titled sophomore album, the Freshkills lads took some time out of their busy schedule to suggest albums that bring to mind similarly nostalgic pastimes.
Vocalist Zach Lipez
Leatherface
Mush (Fire UK)
If more people wrote lyrics like Frankie Stubbs, the world would be a considerably less stupid and cringe-inducing place to live … well, if not the world, certainly my apartment. And the music is perfect, if your idea of perfection is a slightly more melodic or soulful Motorhead.
Guitarist Johnny Rauberts
Baby Dayliner
High Heart & Low Estate (Brassland)
Critics Pass Away (Brassland)
I have been listening to a lot of Baby Dayliner. Although I know him from mutual friends, I haven't spent the time with his music that I have recently. So much of what I like about Baby Dayliner has to do with the music I listened to when I was just a little kid. I was a huge Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock fan, which is to say, I loved Thriller and Head Hunters — anything that was based around simple bass lines and strong drum sounds. Baby Dayliner does this for me but not in a retro way like LCD Soundsystem. It’s more in tune with the idea of truly great party music that elevates your mood no matter where you hear it.
Bassist Mitchell Jordan
The Dismemberment Plan
Emergency & I (DeSoto)
I've been revisiting a lot of the music that made an impact on me in the ’90s. I have a certain affinity for music from the Washington, D.C. area, particularly DeSoto and Dischord Records bands. These guys are pop masters with an amazing rhythm section. This record is flawless, front to back, and goes from controlled to chaotic in seconds.
Guitarist Tim Murray
Curve
Cuckoo (Virgin)
Pure pop brutality. Toni [Halliday, singer-songwriter] sounds like a Zentradi princess whispering in your ear. And I love the guitar work. I'm still trying to figure out how [bassist-guitarist Dean Garcia] made all those sounds.
Drummer Jim Paradise
Grails
The Burden of Hope (Neurotic/Robotic Empire)
I've been listening to this record a lot lately. The mood of this record makes you want to drop out and get lost in it. I find myself restarting it the second it finishes. It’s instrumental, slow, and quiet, with bursts of heavy. Like a jazzed-out Pink Floyd. Awesome. The perfect record when you’re stuck on an airplane for three hours, that's for sure!
Issue #29
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