These days, when people talk about the musical borough of Brooklyn they talk about garage-rock, chillwave, or, of course, hip-hop. But remember art-rock? Remember when that was the sound not just of Brooklyn, but of New York? Think of The Talking Heads, or more recently, TV On the Radio (QRO live review). Waving the art-rock banner today is Landlady on their debut full-length, Upright Behavior.
Landlady do feel directly TVOTR-related, not just in general art-rock & borough, but in the vocals of Adam Schatz (QRO interview), whose voice bears a definite resemblance to Tunde Adebimpe. Landlady largely keep it more stripped down and stop-start, but there are still big moments like alt-sing-along closer “X-Ray Machine” or the almost orchestral title track. And other than the pressure to “Girl”, they keep it mostly slower and gaudy, such as in opener “Above My Ground”.
Like most art-rock, Upright Behavior isn’t immediately accessible – but it also isn’t indecipherable high art. Amidst all the low garage and high waves in Brooklyn, it’s great to get some art-rock again.
Landlady – Above My Ground
