Fluxblog
April 21st, 2016 12:12pm

Mighty Man Of War


Thao and the Get Down Stay Down “Fool Forever”

Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards produced the new Thao record, and it’s very obvious, as her aesthetic is all over it – the emphasis on bass and percussion, the ever-shifting planes of musical texture, little eruptions of noise, a slightly feral quality to the performances. Thao Nguyen doesn’t totally surrender herself to Garbus’ sound, but she seems very home within it, sharpening her songwriting and moving her vocal performance into more aggressive and nakedly expressive territory. “Fool Forever,” one of the best tracks on the record, is built on a reggae-translated-into-punk groove that reminds me a lot of The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton,” but when the chorus hits, it abruptly shifts into a sound that’s simultaneously much lighter and far more abrasive. Even having heard this song many times in the past couple months, it always feels a bit sudden and exciting, like this sudden cathartic moment from out of nowhere.

Buy it from Amazon.

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