Our fabulous guest blogger, Britt Lundborg, shares her thoughts on the brand new album. “Your heart is like a crippled demon’s semen on your clothes”, so sings Quinn Walker on “A Mind I Knew”, a track off Suckers’ Frenchkiss Records debut, Wild Smile. The tune is a clattery, anxious steam-engine that picks up propulsive energy until its hard stop close. Lyrically, Suckers’ songs are populated with mind-testing poetic shorthand. Sometimes it’s obscure (see: crippled demon spunk) and sometimes it’s simple, specific and sad: “Pour out the wine, cardboard underneath our spines. Curled up shoes that keep repeating on the news”. Whether this sort of lyrically imagistic approach is off-putting or endearing is your challenge, not Suckers who sound assured, passionate and barely roped in on their LP. Scattering phrases like seeds on the wind can grate a listener who suspects laziness (bad) or pretension (even worse). But on Wild Smile, a magical coalescence occurs partly because a solid pop foundation underscores every tune. They use their songs as a jumping off point for invention and come at music-making in a scatter-shot, unusual way. Take “Black Sheep”, their lead single, for example. It’s a thumping, dizzying thrill ride built around an addictive little guitar riff and a huge squalling chorus. In the course of three and a half minutes, they change tempos, squeal their wheels and run shrieking the wrong way down a one-way street. It’s chaotic, shambolic and has ju-jus bigger than twenty Brooklyn-based bands combined. I know what you’re thinking: “Cripes, another Brooklyn bo-ho bro group! I can’t take any more whistling, falsetto or campfire harmonizing”. Fair enough, it’s been a tough few years here in the New York music scene and sorting the genuine from the false takes some patience. You will find it here with Suckers.
Read more of this review & download a Suckers tune AFTER THE JUMP…
Wild Smile works some fine phantasmagorical mojo on you. Give “It Gets Your Body Movin” a spin and I dare you to not feel compelled to crow along like a banshee. It’s a slow-build anthem that will get your body movin’ like a summertime swoosh on a rope swing. It lifts you, pulls you back and forth with child-like glee. I highly recommend catching them live when they really let the animal out to play. There will be face-paint, weird outfits and sonic creativity so wild afterwards you’ll feel like you’ve been spit-roasted by shamans. TMS Rating: 9/10.
the lyric does not run together.
it should be read separately .
your heart is like a crippled demon
semen on your clothes.