Good Morning!
Today we’re listening to “Watch The Sky” by Red Pants
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We’re still about six weeks away from a new Red Pants record. Luckily, we’ve got the album’s fantastic 2nd single, Watch The Sky, to tide us over.
Red Pants are the Madison-based duo of Jason Lambeth and Elsa Nekola. Elsa plays the drums, and Jason plays pretty much everything else.
Waves of static guitar sounds, spirited pattering of drums, pensive keyboard drones, and intimately whispered vocal melodies make up the noisy indie rock of Red Pants’ “Not Quite There Yet”. The music seems to fit perfectly into the visual world that exists around Red Pants: vibrantly colored nostalgia collages, pen and ink portraits showing domestic scenes, and slightly silly stop-motion videos. There’s a kind of homely wonder to the work that is then countered by a splash of color or a subject with two sets of eyes. Like the visual art, the music washes fuzzy guitar tones next to moments of sonic destruction and pairs it all with catchy pop murmurs.
In addition to music, Lambeth is a multi-media artist and does detailed collages. The music here is layered similarly. Nekola is a talented author, and her steady rhythm pulls the song along the same way her words pull you down the pages of her writing.
Their sound is at once fuzzy and clear. Noisy and subdued. It’s lo-fi. It’s shoegaze-ish. Think early Sonic Youth, early Yo La Tengo, or anytime Galaxie 500. There are plenty of 90s influences, but the sound is very much 2023, with everything economical and in just the right amounts. The edges are rough but not too harsh. The lyrics are wistful. The riffs are alternately jangly and jagged but not abrasive.
The resulting mix is a catchy, pop-centric track that reveals more of itself with each play.
For anyone wondering, this was filmed on the lower end of Madison’s famed State Street.
Listen:
“Watch The Sky” by Red Pants | Not Quite There Yet, 2023
Click the record to listen on the platform of your choice.
Note: Not Quite There Yet is out on October 27th via Meritorio Records. You can grab your copy here.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this track!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
Oof, I needed to hear this today on this grey, rainy day. Sooo nice and warm song 🫶
Hot dang! very awesome song and video. Also cool to see a little bit of Madison, I've never been there but imagine it is kinda similar to Boulder in some ways. By some ways, I guess I mean, similarly large college towns with party schools.