Music

Elvis Perkins Creation Myths

(Petaluma Records) ElvisPerkinsSound.net

Creation Myths embraces the frolic of British-influenced ’60s psychedelia replete with front-seat, McCartney-like bass lines and the languid darkness of a Lennonesque voice and imagery. The production by Sam Cohen (White Denim, Danger Mouse, Rhett Miller) is sublime, bestowing some old-time country to the gentle hallucinogenic drift with his contributions on pedal steel. Delving into familiar themes of loss and life, Elvis Perkins’s prose is provocative, but relatable. Accentuated by prominent horn and nimble piano interplay throughout, his voice belies a soothing affect to the dynamic arrangements. Becoming delightfully untethered at times, the vocals afford a human frailty to music already swaddled in flesh and bone. The resulting vibe leaves us somewhere near the corner of Donovan and A Clockwork Orange.

A person’s past may not always imbibe the precarious nature of creativity, but in this case it is hard not to imagine the effect of one’s parents, their art and souls. The Germantownbased singer-songwriter is the son of actor Anthony Perkins, best known for his role in Psycho, and his mother, notable photographer and actress Berry Berenson, perished in the tragic flames of 9/11. If life is suffering, as the recent past informs us, our reaction to it is instrumental in determining the fate of our future lives. Elvis Perkins has directed these intense energies into an artful collage of mood and movement that simultaneously welcomes the listener to just lose themselves and enjoy. From “See Through”: “Leave me alone with my headphones, I’ll be alright.”

—Jason Broome

Double Celled Organism Double Celled Organism

(Team Love Records) The members of Double Celled Organism—Hudson Valley multi-instrumentalists Richard Carr and Bill Brovold—are talented and enormously accomplished musicians whose melodic gifts receive an extensive showcase on this new recording. The two cells are appealingly expanded by occasional percussion and—to these ears, regrettably—by a pitch-shifting technology that imparts an artificial, candy-coated timbre to much the artists’ first-rate playing; it becomes so pervasive, it almost deserves its own credit in the liner notes. Initially, on early tracks like “Cranial Space” and “17 Years,” its sensitive use imparts an otherworldly sensibility—by the conclusion, its overuse skirts the parodic. Unprocessed moments like Carr’s rich piano work on “Shadow Puppets” and Brovold’s delicate acoustic guitar on “Simon’s Dream” become, accordingly, rare treats. I sincerely treasure the creative use of digital effects but, in the case of DCO, I hope they have a series of unplugged recordings planned.

Dust Bowl Faeries The Plague Garden

(Independent) Dustbowlfaeries.com

Akin to a vampiric villain, 2020 seemed like a parasite out for blood. But just as leech venom is used medicinally, surreal events of a perplexing year can beget healing if approached so. Ryder Cooley is a fearless folklorist, publicly exploring the alchemic connection between human and wearable worm in her “Leech House” act. But she’s also head mistress of the gypsy-folky Dust Bowl Faeries—stroking a warbling saw, squeezing an accordion, strumming a uke, and bleeding out curious poetry in goth attire with girlish vox, a taxidermied ram’s head worn on her back. Her quirky Catskill-based quintet brings uptempo carnival cabaret to The Plague Garden for some funereal fun: a Yiddish vibe permeates a comical poke at cheerful folk in “Dustbowl Caravan”; “Vampire Tango” slinks through polka territory; a promenade up a long road leads to the “Cyanide Hotel”; and a sweet serenade lulls another beloved beast in “Ibex.” Purge your poison, circus-style, when they visit Club Helsinki Hudson’s virtual performance series.

Life in a Blender Satsuma

(Fang Records) Fangrecords.com

Life in a Blender’s new EP, Satsuma, raises the stakes of its highly literate songwriting—basing four of its six songs on works by Kurt Vonnegut, Jonathan Ames, Dean Haspiel, and the like—and its dizzying fusion of Beatle-esque power-pop, new wave riffage, and Zappa/ Beefheart-derived musical anarcho-syndicalism. That may sound heavy, but even with lead singer-songwriter Don Rauf’s focus on environmental destruction and human mortality, the Poughkeepsie-by-way-of Brooklynbased outfit turns in a psychedelic blast of a listening party, where Exile-era Rolling Stones meet the B-52s and Lou Reed fronts NRBQ. Rauf’s usual crew is on hand, including cofounder Dave Moody, to deliver the dazzling arrangements captured impeccably by producer/guitarist Al Houghton at his Dubway Studios. Satsuma comes packaged with a limited-edition booklet with custom art and a cocktail recipe for each song fittingly contributed by their “drunkest friends.” —Seth Rogovoy