photo: Shawn Brackbill
Richmond, VA based musicians Kenneth Close and Tracy Wilson made the most of it after COVID had worked havoc on Wilson's "big voice". They had been in cult post-punk band Positive No, but had to move away from that sound to find a new means to make music as a duo, naming themselves Outer World. They set up shop in their home studio and started tinkering with the instruments they had lying around and digging through the thousands of records in their collection. To call the mini-album Who Does The Music Love? that came all out of it this messing around eclectic would be a huge understatement. It is a truly dazzling bunch of songs, wherein psychedelic garage-pop can walk hand in hand with well-heeled dissonants, electronics, funk, space age sound effects, and trip hop.
Kicking off with The Drum the Beat, they channel early Throwing Muses, with a jangling 60s organ as an added bonus. Have starts out as a gentle excursion, a soft song coming out of battered transistor radio (static included), before yanking the listener out of the comfort zone with a few short bursts of loud guitar. The Message is the Message is a tribute to graffiti artist Keith Haring: don't overthink, but just create, because you want to. The public at large might catch up with you eventually. Outer World shares the same sentiment basically, repeating the mantra "I love the music" over and over. There could well be a hint to The Kiki Dee band's hit single I've Got the Music in Me in there. For now Outer World will probably have to settle for becoming an underground favourite, which tends to last longer anyway.
Who Does The Music Love? will be released on vinyl (black and blue versions) via Happy Happy Birthday to Me records. The deluxe version comes blue vinyl, a 1″ button, sticker, and screenprinted sleep mask. Release date: March 22.
Tracks:- The Drum the Beat
- Flower Gunpowder
- Forms of Knowing
- Have
- The Message is the Message
- Outer World
- Loteria
- 04/24 Richmond, VA @ Fuzzy Cactus
- 04/25 Pittsburgh, PA @ The Government Center
- 04/26 Cincinnati, OH @ Motr Pub
- 04/27 Chicago, IL @ The VCR
- 04/28 Detroit, MI @ Outer Limits Lounge
- 04/30 Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog
- 05/01 Kingston, NY @ Tubby's
- 05/02 Boston, MA @ Deep Cuts
- 05/03 Jersey City, NJ @ Sip Studios
- 05/04 Baltimore, MD @ Normals
- 05/18 Charlottesville, VA @ WTJU
» Outer World on Instagram
