by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
In addition to running Roto-Asterisk Records (who recently released Stephe Cooper's exceptional solo debut), Katie McShane is also the visionary behind Spirits Having Fun, a terrifically off-kilter art punk band that everyone will soon be falling in love with. Joined by members of Wei Zhongle, Tredici Bacci, and Cowboy Band, McShane and co. will release their debut album at some point in the not-too-distant future, but until then the band are sharing the first single, "Electricity Explorer," a blissfully wonky song that offers an experience best lived on repeat. Starting next month, the band will join Lina Tullgren for a tour that's sure to drop a few jaws along the way (dates below).
Combining the free form detachment of Birthing Hips and Palberta, "Electricity Explorer" is the perfect introduction to Spirits Having Fun's jittery world of progressive-tinged post-punk and warped twee pop. It's sweet on the onset but pretty contorted at its core, McShane holding the reigns that keep the song from ever capsizing. The rhythm section of Jesse Heasly (Tredici Bacci) and Phil Sudderberg (Wei Zhongle) is impossibly tight and dexterous, grooving through a whirlwind of time changes and impossible shifts in a way that seems nearly effortless. With the jagged rhythms firmly in place (or rarely in place, depending on how you look at it), McShane and Andrew Clinkman (Cowboy Band) provide radiantly jagged guitar interplay, pushing and pulling between one another with a discordant call-and-response vibe in the duel attack. McShane's vocals move with a nimble grace, gently darting around like tip-toeing around an earthquake. The song is intricately constructed to sound nearly deconstructed, but the band's natural capabilities are evident in the fluid transitions of the incredible "Electricity Explorer".
Tour Dates:
05/04 - Winooski, VT @ Waking Windows Festival
05/05 - Winooski, VT @ Waking Windows Festival
05/05 - Turner Falls, MA @ The Brick House Community Resource Center w/ Wendy Eisenberg
05/06 - Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville w/ Salt People
05/07 - Philadelphia, PA @ Tundra Dome w/ Strawberry Runners & Spring Onion
5/08 - Richmond, VA @ Gallery 5 w/ Sammi Lanzetta & Righter
5/09 - Columbus, OH
5/10 - Indianapolis, IN
5/11 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
5/12 - Madison, WI
5/13 - Chicago, IL @ The Hideout
all dates w/ Lina Tullgren