Seraphina Lotkhamnga on October 11th, 2011

0

Swahili Blonde‘s music isn’t for the folk who mind structure and accessible melody. The dub and no wave eight-piece supergroup featuring members of Dante Vs. Zombies, the Like, Raw Geronimo, WEAVE! and Devo have always swayed to sideways time signatures. However, “Psycho Tropical Ballet Pink” (out Nov. 15 on Nicole Turley and John Frusciante’s label Neurotic Yell) drops the majority of punk they incorporated into their debut “Man Meat,” and cranks the reverb up so much that elements such as doo-wop vocals, violin shrieks, sitar, Caribbean melodies and even Tijuana brass horns all converge into an angular haze where one floats in a world between the catalogs of ESG and the Slits. Their Burke Roberts-directed video for “Purple Ink” illustrates this musical limbo pretty well, and if you’re already on drugs, don’t say we didn’t warn you before watching.

||| Live: Swahili Blonde continues their residency Oct. 17 at the Echo with support from Corridor, Jail Weddings and Chains of Love.