This week’s Listening Party features the Brooklyn-born band Landlady and their upcoming show/album release party next Tuesday at Baby’s All Right. Listening Party is a weekly column promoting music discovery and encouraging concert-going. Each hand-picked Listening Party artist has an upcoming show at a local NYC venue. Grab your headphones and read on.
WHO: Adam Schatz (keyboards, vocals), Ian Chang (drums, vocals, guitar), Mikey Freedom Hart (guitar, vocals), Ian Davis (bass, vocals), Booker Stardrum (drums)
THEY SAY: “art-rock with existential questioning”
WE SAY: Psychedelic Salad – tossed generously with rock, funk, and a dollop of doo-wop.
FROM: Brooklyn, NY
ONLINE: https://landlady.bandcamp.com/
RECENT WORK: Upright Behavior, out July 15th
UPCOMING SHOW: Tuesday (7/15) at Baby’s All Right
Proudly born n’ brewed in Brooklyn, the quirky quintet Landlady are back with a delicious second album to quench your summertime thirst.
At the helm of his crew (and Farfisa organ) is Adam Schatz. A transformative musician in his other projects (The Shoe Ins, Father Figure), Schatz has meticulously woven his favorite genres (rock, funk, jazz, blues, Afrobeat) to create Landlady’s unpredictable and delightful beats. Packed with orchestral instruments, swelling chamber choruses, and psychedelic synths; Landlady’s knack for experimentation is comparable to fellow Brooklyn genre-benders, Dirty Projectors.
Their latest work showcases the group’s genre mobility. “Dying Day” starts of with quick-riffs and toe taps before swerving into jingly 50’s-era doo-wop storytelling. “Under the Yard” is an earthy, bluesy Gospel, drenched in reverb and folky lyrics akin to Iron & Wine’s Kiss Each Other Clean. Fans of new wave heroes Talking Heads will appreciate the pulsing piano keys in standout track “Girl.”
Impressively diverse and gratifyingly groovy, Landlady crafts music that’s unconventional and earthy. Even when the lyrical topics are grim: death (“Dying Day”), disappearing lovers (“Maria”), environmental consumption (“The Globe”) – Landlady turns inexorable despair into something downright jubilant! So be sure to swing by Baby’s All Right this Tuesday and catch the exuberant energy of these boys and the equally rad Celestial Shore and Shy Hunters!