Music Monday w/ Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Dekades, PPL MVR

Welcome to another Music Monday. This version, a quick hit and trifecta of particular goodness where none of these bands is in any way like the other. Springtime releases from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Dekades and the one and only PPL MVR arrived and if they’ve missed your radar, it’s time to key in.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love

Released: May 26, 2015

This album: oh man and hot damn. Going all mad scientist on us and openly flaying a very unique mortal coil for all the world to hear and see (when’s the last time you heard a concept album about the concept of polyamory?), New Zealand native to Portland, OR resident Ruban Nielson and his mates Jacob Portrait, Riley Geare and Quincy McCrary take their R&B-laced psychedelia and twist it into 70s disco-fied and funked up, intimate free-love knots, much like   Neilson’s three-way relationship. Synthesizers and bass lines buzz it up, Nielson’s falsetto and melodies could not be any more on point and “Can’t Keep Checking My Phone” might make you say, “Fuck rollerblades, give me my skates!” As quirkily beautiful as it is flagrant and emotionally honest, sometimes the best records have the most unusual genesis.

Released: May 26, 2015

Dekades – Dekades
More often than not, when a band’s lead singer is a female things tend to lean towards the light and lofty side of the street. This is why we appreciate Dekades because light and lofty have no place in their program. The Los Angeles five-piece built by Arden Fisher (vox, guitar), Josh Benson (guitar), James Carter (bass), Chris Cano (drums) and Matt Shores (everything else) embrace the rumble and beautifully abrasive roar of rock’s dark side and they do so with damned admirable skill. They released their self-titled EP in May and it’s five songs of forceful and hypnotic rhythm, chaos and controlled disorder with tracks like “The Drones Are Coming” and “Funkado” being indicative of a band who can build a groovy wall of sound and not let it fall. Keep it up, please and thank you.

Released: April 20, 2015

the one and only PPL MVR – the one and only PPL MVR
If a trio that resembles a Yeti/Chewbacca combo (somewhat deranged and yet in complete control of…something), boasting heavy duty guitar riffs and synth-metal songs that spiral into the cosmos is your thing, then welcome to the one and only PPL MVR (pronounced “people mover”). Now if their unusual look is a distraction, then just close your eyes: whatever it takes to get the music in your ears. PPL MVR are surely the most weirdly interesting band you’ll meet this year (or any other year) but K-PO, SNWBLL and Q (yeah) are more than just a costumed crew: the music is no joke, dense, affective and vocoded just for the hell of it. Each song from their debut EP, PPL MVR (now out on Elektra Records), will have an accompanying video, so get ready to move, people. They call themselves “the one and only” for a reason.