Some good things came out this week. Here are two that I want to showcase.
Night Club Returns with ‘Bad Girl’
Readers will know Night Club (Emily Cavanaugh and Mark Brooks) from their work on Moonbeam City, the recently cancelled, Archer-meets-Patrick Nagel prime-time cartoon inspired by 80s cop shows like Miami Vice. Or maybe you read Vehlinggo’s interview with them?
In that show’s wake, the duo has released the hard-synth cut “Bad Girl” and is touring the Northeast — Vehlinggo is catching them next weekend in sunny Brooklyn. The song maintains the somewhat deviant vibe that Cavanaugh and Brooks regularly pull off with ease, but this time they inject a distinct balance of aggressive synthesizer arrangements with Cavanaugh’s catchy, borderline-angelic vocal stylings. The result is worth many repeated listens.
The cut seethes with the sense of catharsis that comes from heavier, angrier music, and I can’t help but think this is in part a way to deal with the cancellation of their TV show.
The song’s available now on iTunes and such. The full-length album will be out soon. There’s also some soundtrack work afoot. Relax, Night Club fans, it’ll all be OK.
Donna Missal gets ‘Sick’
Let’s dial it down a bit into some kind of wicked contrast between sludgy backbeats, driving bass lines, and bittersweet, sometimes-malfunctioning vocals.
To be sure, singer Donna Missal, who is doing some shows this weekend, isn’t your typical Vehlinggo fare. However, there’s something very Vehlinggo about struggling with the tensions inherent in the battle between cynicism and idealism.
