Vehlinggo favorites Pleasure Curses and Pr0files have released some great new music recently. Check it out below.
Pleasure Curses – Screens
Jahn Teetsov and Evan Grice (AKA Pleasure Curses) have always made catchy disco and synthpop — tightly constructed songs with a cool aesthetic and, in the case of “Under the Moonlight” with Christen Cappello, a haunting quality that borders on majestic.
On new EP Screens, though, they’ve branched out. The arrangements are fuller, employing guitars, saxophones, and guest vox from labelmate Brittany Sims (of Furniteur). The statements they make are grander, and there’s more attitude and grit underscoring it all. Put this record on and watch people connect with it.
They say the release is a commentary on the apathy that various screens cause: these fucking laptop and cellphone screens and smokescreens and the like, for example, just zap the humanity out of us, if you think about it. I say the EP is an effective way to bring us back together.
All four cuts are great, but highlights are “Silver” and “Mean Streets,” the latter a soulful disco number that deserves to be a big hit this year.
See Also: Furniteur // Pleasure Curses Fights Fascism/
(Feature Photo: Pleasure Curses. Photo credit: Jahn Teetsov.)
Pr0files – “Money”
Los Angeles-based Pr0files have been making a name for themselves with absolutely killer dark disco and synthpop cuts evoking the likes of Chromatics, Kavinsky, and Poliça. With that musical framework the lyrics of Lauren Pardini and Danny Sternbaum, the people behind Pr0files, often touch on the complicated side of life, such as trainwreck relationships or bouts of depression.
On new single “Money,” the first since they released album Jurassic Technologie last year, the pair is still up to their old tricks — with a catch. Pardini sings about losing someone to the ruthless lust for fame, and the arrangement is still catchy and synth-laden. However, there’s a distinct Top 40 grandeur to the arrangement, especially the chorus.
“Money” is not so much a dark and minimalist number like its predecessors. Instead, it’s got grand synth pads and stabs, offering up a crystalline bigness that sees the duo elevating their sociology in wide open spaces. It’s a lovely track and it makes me very curious about what else they have in store for us.
Recommended Reading: Vehlinggo’s feature on Pr0files when Jurassic Technologie came out in early 2016// Their thoughts on the influence of Drive // Vehlinggo’s review of “Like a Knife”/
