Protomartyr, Broken Twin, and The Outfit

In my quest to always check out the latest bands that are popping up in the music scene, I frequently experience some of the strangest shows or parties that are to see out there to see. Saturday I stumbled upon a Cassette Revival Party; this uber hipster event allowed you to trade cassettes, walkmen, boom boxes, and whatever other accessories your dad had hidden away in his storage closet. This was part of a movement to inspire artists to go back to recording analog versus that of digital, and apparently this nonsense is picking up some steam. I saw all of these hipster kids walking around with these cassette tapes that they will never be able listen to. Who has a cassette deck anymore??? People don't even take those to Goodwill because no one wants them! I remember cassettes; they were cool because you could make your girlfriend a mix tape of cheesy love songs whenever she got mad at you; and whenever they needed re spooling it kind of made you feel like a handyman. But there is a reason why we have moved on from that "technology" and that's because the sound quality sucked!

Bear with me for a moment, I will get to the new acts in a second but I cant talk about this party and not mention all of the freaks that I saw out that night. First of all, there were these girls who were dancing to the sounds of a dj who happened to be bobbing his head off beat to his own music; one was dressed like Tina Turner from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and the other looked like Vanity from Action Jackson with this gold triangle chain around her neck. They were kind of cute and reminded me of the weirdo 80's but once the cougar hipster at the party started giving me the eye, I figured it was time for me to leave for another show. And the second I walked in I see this kid rocking beginner dreads with white tips that made him look like the lead singer/rapper of that awful group Kottonmouth Kings! I wont ask you if you remember them because no one does; I barely found a reference to them using a Google search! And right behind this clown was a hipster wearing a bucket hat; I guess he felt inspired to become the white Schoolboy Q of the south. I was secretly hoping that the giant black guy that was wearing a tank top and looked like the lead singer of TV on the Radio would punch him on general principle, but sadly this didn't happen. Oh well, I should've sneaked into the private party that had Corey Feldman drunk on stage and singing Guns n Roses covers off key. But on to the bands...

I'm cautiously excited about Protomartyr from Detroit. At times they sound like Michael Cera's band in Scott Pilgrim but with a lead singer from the grunge era. And on their new record, its like they are channeling Joy Division with the drums reigning supreme on each track. Their fuzzy guitars give it a harder indie sound and the spastic nature of the music matches Joe Casey's personality, which is on full display in his voice and his lyrics. Check out Feral Cats and Ypsilanti to get an idea of their sound. I need to give their latest album a few more listens but for now they get a rating of FRESH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SSeouZtUBI

Next up is Broken Twin, a singer songwriter from Denmark. I am not a huge fan of singer songwriters and it's next to impossible to get me to go to one of their shows, but something draws me to these depressing lyrics that are sung over a dark and brooding piano. "I find it hard to simply live, I don't know how to be young, tell me now whose side you're on, we fall in love with anyone" - Sun Has Gone. She digs so deep emotionally on each track that you cant help but find a connection; at some point in your life you have shared these thoughts. I would also suggest checking out Out of Air, just stay away from wine and gun powder when you do. I rate her as FRESH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kvN3aPbpq4

The last group to check out today is The Outfit from Dallas. They are a hip hop trio from the south that sounds like early Future. The Outfit consists of MC Mel and Jayhawk as the southern fried rappers and Dorian, who is the producer that brings a trippy and spaced out feel to their music which helps them stand out from the rest of the pack. I 'm not quite feeling it yet but I'm also extra critical when it comes to hip hop, so check them out for yourself. Props to them for representing Whataburger in their videos though. As of now they get a rating of kind of WEAK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxRA2Q02Wlg