Silk Flowers

Remember a few years ago, when everyone was listening to Smiths and Modern English records and New New Wave was all the hype? Then remember last summer, right after Nouns came out, and right before this whole lo-fi thing blew up and everyone was in a band with eight layers of fuzz and blogs overused the phrase "drugged-out psychedelia"? Silk Flowers walk the line where a past trend meets a current one that's maybe on its last legs, and dish out a brand of dark electronics that manages to be messy while still holding onto New Wave's penchant for cleanness and modernity. There's something almost post-punk about the amount of reverb and static in their songs, and it's not a surprise these guys' debut is out on PPM, who have also released records by Mika Miko, Abe Vigoda, Gun Outfit and Eric Copeland.

"Flash of Light" begins with a bouncing synth, heavy on the bass, and ghostly in mood, that sounds more like Norwegian Kim Hiorthøy's brand of danceable video game music than the above brand of LA/NY art/not-art rock. Then comes the sharp snare, and Aviram Cohen's deep moody voice, somewhere between the Leonard he shares a surname with and Gary Newman. Cohen doesn't sing on all of the songs, which makes his vocals even more off-putting when he emerges. New Wave knew something about melodrama and second-person narratives, and in under two and a half minutes Silk Flowers flash some inky darkness into our summer fun.

Silk Flowers - "Flash of Light"

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