New Music From Sacred Paws, Maneka
Sacred Paws
Run Around the Sun
(Merge/Rock Action)
Do you think you might be a stick in the mud? Do you hate fun? Well, this writer has a litmus test for you—give a listen to Run Around the Sun, the second album from the Glasgow, Scotland duo Sacred Paws, which is also one of the most flat-out joyous records of recent memory.
If you can’t connect with its energy and motion in any way, even on the most basic level, then you may want to ask yourself if you might be some kind of life-draining social vampire. I’m not saying you are, but if you spend a lot of time complaining or telling people they’re wrong on the Internet, then that’s not a good sign, also.
Guitarist Rachel Aggs, also a member of Trash Kit and Shopping, and percussionist Eilidh Rodgers previously played together in the group Golden Grrrls, and with Sacred Paws, Aggs and Rodgers are a perfect fit, with Aggs effortlessly gliding through her nimble guitar lines, which bear a strong African soukous and Ghanaian highlife influence, while Rodgers’ exhilarating, swift drumming, with crisp and precise hi-hat taps, acts as a sonic, rattling roller coaster car for the listener.
The core duo is joined by guests who provide flourishes like the warm brass accents on “Almost It” or the small, subtle synth notes on “Brush Your Hair”, while Aggs’ and Rodgers’ vocal harmonizing and call-and-response exchanges have a natural warmth and chemistry. Rodgers’ rhythms can be thundering, agitated and busy, and Aggs’ electric guitar tone is clean and exposed—no sloppy playing here, and no distortion to act as a veil.
Sacred Paws’ fast, fluid guitar melodies and jittery drumming manage to be irrepressibly cheery without succumbing to the pop-music pitfalls, demonstrating that certain pleasures can appeal on an almost instinctual level without being cloying or insipid.
Maneka
Devin
(Exploding in Sound)
At the end of the fake talk show “Black Perspective”, on Saturday Night Live during its early years, after a hilariously absurd discussion with Fran Tarkenton about why there are few black quarterbacks, host Garrett Morris offered one final joke: “Next week, Mark Spitz explains why there are no black swimmers.”
In the world of contemporary indie rock, a similar observation can be made: why are there so few black indie-rock musicians?
Former Speedy Ortiz guitarist Devin McKnight grapples with such thoughts in novel ways on the new album Devin from his solo project Maneka, which is about “black pride and addressing my confusion as a minority in white indie rock scenes.”
As a musical omnivore, apparently certain acquaintances have questioned him regarding his love of certain genres including rock, while he’s not questioned on others, like jazz or hip hop. Some have accused him of trying to be white (his father is black, his mother is of Chinese and Pakistani descent).
Liking one style of music shouldn’t negate liking another style, but apparently some people have a problem with it. As if to force the issue, Devin is diverse and confrontational, with its short opening track, “Oopdie Oop”, being an aggressive blast of grindcore, leading to the loud, heavy shoegaze track “A Brand New Day”.
“My Queen” approaches speed metal, with machine-gun beats, vocals from Sadie Dupuis (of Speedy Ortiz) and a wild guitar solo, while “Oopdie Oop (Jazz)” goes into free jazz territory, with a cheeky sort of obnoxiousness. “Glazed” could pass for something from the ‘90s on the Touch and Go label, with a thick, bendy bass line, pounding drums and chiming guitar discord, while “Time in the Barrel” is like alien grunge rock with a distinctively odd guitar sound and a Nirvana vibe.
Unfortunately, Devin has one consistently weak point—while McKnight’s narrative voice takes unique stabs at cultural and identity politics, his actual singing voice is a bit too, well, aloof and unexciting (with a few exceptions, including one devil impersonation).
Despite that, the album rocks like nobody’s business and takes indie-rock into strange realms. Heck, maybe the cover of McKnight’s next album will show a photo of him swimming.