Daiana Feuer on May 6th, 2016

0

San Diego synth-pop band Spooky Cigarette has a debut EP, “As Loud As I Can,” dropping on Bleeding Gold Records/Field Trips on May 20. The band name does not refer to a ghost trapped in tightly compressed tobacco. Instead they say it is “a facetious nudge at their frontmanʼs self-proclaimed identity as a black (spook) fag (cigarette).” Frank Mindingall (Beaters, Northern Tigers, Ale Mania), Jakob McWhinney (Space Heat, The Soaks) Skylar Eppler (Via Meteor), and Danny Gallo (formerly of Hills like Elephants) got together last fall over a love of flangers, synths and the undulating forces that define the squiggly line between new and no wave music. They describe their EP’s mission as “an attempt to fully realize social and sexual identity and reconcile all the time lost.” They also liken it to squirming around in a chair to get comfortable. To illuminate their message, the video for “Oh Well” finds an adorable giant teddy bear waking up to a knife at his throat. As neon colors trail from one side of the frame to the other, a seemingly fun romp through a carnival and San Diego streets carries a certain darkness. Conceptually, that makes sense. Upbeat and springy but undercut by a sense of doom, “Oh Well” will keep you hopping all the way to the knife drawer.

||| Watch: “Oh Well”