At first blush, D.C.-based Pleasure Curses seem like a fascinating duo simply because of the clean and colorful artwork that accompanies their releases.
Thankfully, it’s more than the MoMA-ready art that makes them a worthwhile cause. On “Concrete,” which came out this week, Pleasure Curses unleash a beautiful, but simple, onslaught of danceability without taking themselves too seriously. The song’s title is appropriate: Although their cover art might bare some abstract tendencies, their music is straightforward and stripped of any overbearing imagery.
With a tight, Prince-like synth-fuck rhythm and a minimal, Italo-synth accompaniment — all glued together with catchy hooks — “Concrete” is a memorable and fun dance cut. The vocals are breathy and tongue-in-cheek, and carry more than a passing resemblance to the affectations of Courtney Taylor-Taylor.
I can see this cut heating up a club very easily. I can also see some pretty talented people doing their own brilliant remixes of the song.
“Concrete” will show up on the duo’s album Pure Lust, which will be released this month.
Here’s what the band had to say about the environment in which they created the album (Hint: It’s much deeper than “Concrete” would suggest on its own):
“The upcoming release is derived from material recorded in an empty and isolated house outside of Chicago that was disconnected from creature comforts like internet, cell phone reception, or furniture,” they said in a press release.
“Contrary to our surroundings, the self-imposed isolation started inspiring us to make more of an upbeat-beat party record. The lyrics in ‘Concrete’ were partly conceived by seeing a plant punch it’s way through cracks in cement on a work site to keep growing; like a symbol to nature taking over once humanity is long gone. We all are the protagonists of our own stories but we are also the background characters to other people’s lives.”
