Kevin Bronson on September 2nd, 2022

0

Jack Kennedy — just Kennedy here — has a resumé that’s, well, distinctive. Once upon a Y2K, he was an early member of Silversun Pickups. (He cameos as the bartender in their most famous video.) Off into the pop world he went, both as a solo artist (enjoying more success overseas than in the U.S.), as a co-writer/producer (striking platinum, for instance on BØRNS’ “10,000 Emerald Pools”) and placing music on film and TV. He once traveled around the U.S. in a Greyhound bus making and recording songs with strangers. He went to Morocco and recorded music with Berber tribesmen. And in 2019, he spend a few months in Iraq recording with musicians who had been in hiding during the Islamic State’s occupation.

But you never know with Kennedy, who’s now safely ensconced in Ojai. About 10 years ago, he did a live variety show, “The Kennedy Administration,” around town. He’s DJ’d at clubs and roller rinks. You feel that at any moment he could release a pop bop that would make you dance, smile or blush, or all three.

No big surprise, then, that today he turns up as a one-man Beach Boys in Cameron James Parker’s crazy new video for his single, “Katamaran.” Holy harmonies, this West Coast pop thing never gets old, right?

The song will appear on “Kennedy,” a career-spanning vinyl release that includes some of more well-known songs, including “Karate” (“Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”) and “Your Mama.”

||| Watch: The video for “Katamaran”

||| Also: Stream “The 405” and “Only the Rich Will Survive”