This week’s Listening Party features Bushwick band Napoleon! Listening Party is a curated weekly column promoting music discovery and encouraging concert-going. Featuring someone we’ve been jamming out to and we recommend to the masses, each Listening Party artist has an upcoming show at a local NYC venue. Grab your headphones and read on.
WHO: Cory Sterling, Opal Hoyt keys, Julian Anderson, Harrison Keithline.
THEY SAY: “Bubblegum Trance”
WE SAY: Imaginative, moody, dreary vaguely shoegazey rock
FROM: NYC
ONLINE: https://www.facebook.com/napoleonmusic/
RECENT WORK: 2012’s LP Success
UPCOMING SHOW: Wednesday 1/8 at Knitting Factory with Slonk Donkerson, Honduras.
Napoleon might not be your radar yet but it completely should be. The Bushwick locals (some via Detroit) have been sharpening their claws to take 2014 by storm since it’s been a bit since their excellent LP Success dropped in 2012 (produced by Kevin McMahon (Titus andronicus, Real Estate, Swans, The Walkmen). Each song on the album sounds a little different, but it’s all powered by smart and moody 1990’s vibe. Their sound has a sultry sheen to it, soaring vocals that ooze just the right amount of Cat Power-esque croakyness as they spill reflective lyrics . Their drum beats meet in minimalist (“I Won’t Let You Die”) or more math-like rhythms (“Sarafan”) that make way for creeping keyboard melodies and feel-good guitar chords that carry songs through to happy endings. We’re so happy to see Napoleon getting onstage to start 2014 right for the Brooklyn music scene. They play next Wednesday with other local bands Honduras and Slonk Donkerson at the Knitting Factory.