Ears Wide Open: Professor Possessor

Seraphina Lotkhamnga on
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Professor Possessor are wacky. They’re dark. They’re punk, and they boast former member of the brainy pop ensemble Big Moves – Jesse Imme – along with Scarlet A. Newman-Thomas, Jacob Summers and Hayden Hall. Forming in late 2011, Professor Possessor has explored the experimental realm with their own brew of garage-wave, witch-pop, dark wave and DIY electronica, and they seem eager to pour out as many of these quirky ”˜80s throwbacks as they can. After releasing their self-titled EP back in December, the L.A. quartet has already released a full-length, appropriately titled “Strange Paradise,” a record that casts a spell influenced heavily by 1980s horror movies and dance music. Unorthodox choruses are massaged by erratic beats, spiraling synths and slinky bass lines in songs like “Another Kind” and “Northern Light.” On the surface, Professor Possessor may seem like oddballs, but their arrangements are intellectually anthemic as anything from Cut Copy or Glass Candy, if not more.

||| Download: “Another Kind” (for one week only) or purchase “Strange Paradise” in its entirety.

||| Watch: Check out their bizarre video for “Baby, It’s Magic” after the jump.

||| Live: Professor Possessor play Saturday at the Del Monte Speakeasy.