ON REPEAT #1: Sweeping Promises, The Mall, Bodega, De La Soul, The KLF & Tammy Wynette!
They said Tammy, stand by the JAAAMS!
Welcome. A few years ago I started a little series on Instagram featuring my favorite songs of the week, and I’ve decided to make it into a little Substack to explain the “why” of things I’m into, instead of forcing my little song choices in between memes and vacation photos. I’m into post-punk, hip-hop, weird pop, steampunk (the leather dusters and begoggled top hats, NOT the music), and a wide variety of other genres.
Every week, I’ll pick a handful of songs I have on repeat, and you can find the running playlist of these here! I’ll also select one song which is THE GOLD STANDARD (just an old song I already like and am revisiting).
Also send me song suggestions, if I like it, I’ll write a dumb thing about it!
THIS WEEK:
SWEEPING PROMISES “ERASER”
THE KLF “JUSTIFIED AND ANCIENT”
BODEGA “DOERS”
THE MALL “BURNING AGE”
DE LA SOUL (FEAT. REDMAN) “OOOH.”
SWEEPING PROMISES “ERASER”
I fell in LOVE with Sweeping Promises when their first album came out in the summer of 2020 and their song “Hunger For A Way Out” became my anthem for mid-pandemic anxiety. I finally got to see them live at Zebulon in LA last year and they over-delivered. This is everything I want in a band. Tight songs, Lira Mondal is an incredible singer…um, I’m realizing I’m not great about talking about the musical part of music OH NO. This song is also very good. They are my ideal band!
(Bandcamp)
THE KLF “JUSTIFIED AND ANCIENT”
You maybe know this one. I did not.
I’ve been doing this little project with my free time, going through the Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Lists from every year trying to find those little pop gems that got lost in time, or maybe find a glaring omission from my own personal library of songs. This one is from the latter category. How am I just now hearing about this?
I’ve heard The KLF before, probably their ambient-leaning stuff, but I did not know their history of music anarchy. Billy “King Boy D” Drummond ran Zoo Records, which put out early albums by bands such as Echo & The Bunnymen and Jimmy “Rockman Rock” Cauty had played with members of The Killing Joke in a band called Brilliant. Then the late 80’s happened, and everybody was really, really excited about sampling. These two dicked around with a lore-heavy hip-hop duo called The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, and stumbled upon a chart-topping hit in the UK: they sampled that fookin’ sodding pedo Gary Glitter innit and made a Doctor Who novelty song, Doctorin’ The Tardis as The Timelords—who were a car:
They took that money and published a how-to book about making a number-one hit then moved into a trance music direction with the KLF. After the aforementioned ambient stuff, they moved in a new direction called STADIUM HOUSE. All of this stuff is on a scale from musically iffy to “not my thing” but here’s where I get a little myopic about the whole thing...
They did a song called “Justified and Ancient” which was their maybe not-so-great anthem (like this) through all these various incarnations with seemingly non-sensical lyrics about Mu Mu Land (a fictional island they kidnapped music critics onto for real) and ANCIENT SA-LUTEs. They jokingly suggested that country music legend Tammy “Stand By Your Man” Wynette sing it, though one of them got her confused with Dolly Parton. It turned out to not be such a crazy idea, as her husband recognized the KLF name from the Billboard charts. She really liked money and would lend her clout to a bunch of pranksters for some more. And the results? 😏 I can’t get enough, folks.
They filmed this bonkers music video at Pinewood Studios with robed disciples, African drummers, and a rapper in an ice cream van, gloriously named RICARDO DA FORCE. It’s all very insane and I’ve been enjoying watching reaction videos to it, to simulate my recent first exposure to the song. I find myself frequently singing to myself, “They called me up in Tennessee, they said Tammy, STAND BY THE JAAAAMS.” It’s becoming a problem. If you hate this, I get it.
They later formed a speed metal band and then burned a million dollars.
BRING THE BEAT BACK!
BODEGA “DOERS”
I’ve been a fan of Brooklyn’s BODEGA for a few years now, but this song might be my favorite of theirs. One regret (of many) from my NYC public access show days is not getting them on to play. (But we tried!)
While I have been working on SECRET PROJECTS, I’m constantly oscillating between creative droughts and impostor syndrome, and sometimes one just has to be a bit more of a connoisseur than a doer. I feel like I have more latitude to do that in NYC, which should belong to the doers and not just the people that take up space. brb I’m gonna lay down.
(Bandcamp)
THE MALL “BURNING AGE”
I don’t know a ton about The Mall besides they are from St. Louis and part of a cool crew with Mspaint and other fun Midwest acts, and also have “punk.bandcamp.com” on lock. This sounds like someone screaming towards the last spaceship leaving an apocalyptic future Earth.
(Bandcamp)
THE GOLD STANDARD:
DE LA SOUL “OOOH.”
My gold standard pick is an underappreciated De La Soul gem from the late 2000, which was not their biggest year by any means, but the biggest year for crazy hip-hop music videos. While other acts would spend their lavish budget on helicopters, luxury yachts, or a crazy party for all their friends, De La naturally went in another direction, doing this crazy Wizard of Oz…thing.
How High-era Redman is along for the ride with a fun intro (I’ve omitted a Dave Chappelle bit from the beginning where he talks in a silly voice because fuck that guy) and then we’re into a weird few minutes of hip-hop Oz, with Rah Digga as Dorothy, Trugoy looking like Hobocop and Maseo looking like a sleep paralysis demon. It’s great.
Ellen Lyon Olk put it best on Facebook:
I did a full relisten to the De La catalogue when it went online and I can’t recommend it enough. RIP Trugoy!
Well that’s it, please send me your song suggestions and any thoughts you have on these songs.