Wow, just when I was 100% convinced that old music is totally boring, irrelevant, and useless — Wharf Cat Records and Ramp Local come together to put out this ancient banger. Due November 3, the co-released Chips For Dinner amounts to a late-career highlight for New York wonky-rock veterans No One And The Somebodies as well as an early document of punky trio Palberta and their characteristic minimal sound.
Just yesterday you would have been hard pressed to convince me to listen to music more than a week old, but after listening to this 2015 nugget, I’m purposely setting aside all the “new” “albums” that artists like Klein, The Caretaker, and Yves Tumor have set the blogosphere alight with until at least 2019! (“New?” More like: “soon-to-be-old!” I always say!) Now I’m googling things like: “what is good music 2015,” and “the beetles good and old.”
All the centuries of collecting dust aside — Chips For Dinner is a remarkable and exciting EP that shows its co-creators at some of their best work to date. No One And The Somebodies deliver an hyper-stimulating set of basement classics with a playful heaviness perfectly coupled to Palberta’s unique pebble-stuck-in-your-shoe approach to punk. Palberta’s “You Did” rides like a wagon with a lumpy wheel, doing so it processes a particular scene of discomfort and confusion (but I wouldn’t spoil the ending ;^) ). NOATS’ “Chicken Milk” brings MIDI keys, pitch-shifty textures, Sugar Ray harmonies, and a weirdo ska feel together in a seemingly genuine way that will make you regret scoffing when I mentioned Sugar Ray. The whole thing is a total blast from the past that feels oddly fresh.
This thing sent me looking forward to what other classic treasures I might discover that the past three-or-so years of music has to offer! I’m already learning so much about these long-forgotten artists called “Björk,” “Sufjan Stevens,” and “Grimes.” The past is rich and bountiful! But for now, check out the EP’s respective singles “Chicken Milk” and “You Did” below before pre-ordering a totally NEW-old copy of “Chips For Dinner” on LP, CD, and digital here.
Chips For Dinner tracklisting:
01. No One and the Somebodies - Nu Metal
02. No One and the Somebodies - Chicken Milk 02:26
03. No One and the Somebodies - Nu Jazz
04. No One and the Somebodies - Awake in the Dark
05. No One and the Somebodies - The Reptilians & Me
06. Palberta - You Did 02:08
07. Palberta - Pharmacy
08. Palberta - Take You Away
09. Palberta - Nana
10. Palberta - Call Me
11. Palberta - Maestro’s Minestrone
12. Palberta - Girls
More about: No One and the Somebodies, Palberta
