When I first heard “wave hi to the cancer” back on my birthday at the end of April, I knew I was experiencing something special. I didn’t fully process the whole Body Pillow EP when I heard it in a comforting claustrophobia of unfamiliar faces in Eau Claire’s Lake House, but it has rooted much deeper in my head inspiring the next morning and all the thoughts following.
I remember first seeing Eric Wells AKA Sayth AKA DJ GAY BBY at an open mic at UW-Eau Claire in fall of 2014. One Stevie Nicks sample, a Pokemon rap, and some stumbling hi hats later, I was very confused and hooked. His verses have brought a lot of perspective to valleys I’ve never seen, and told me stories without a single complete sentence. You can feel a very modest sense of reverence from the point of view of Sayth as he brings very holistic and complicated comprehensions of the world and his existence weaved in with the simplest emotional convictions.
All of this composed under the terrifying sonic knockout of Alex Tronson AKA North House in some crushing beats drowning in deep swells, synths, and black holes of melodic invention. A dedicated instrumentalist, North House has still managed to bring a voice and plenty of communication in his music. It carries a dark face in some fresh swing on various pockets of drums and can be optimistic and calm in the same space as its powerfully destructive effect on modern hip-hop's’ stagnant-808 sub-par verses, leaving high tier production as a wallpaper to his duo-debut features.
Having met 3 of the 4 dudes occupying this record (the 4th being Baby Blanket, who makes vocal appearances with swooning melodies) I can call them friends and am very proud to celebrate this achievement with them. I invited Eric, Alex, and Dan Forke (Wealthy Relative) out to a grass roots music festival I help organize at the end of July, and I had quite a wonderful time watching them occupy a sideyard at a huge ale house and a hole in the wall at a dedicated bar venue christened as The Reptile Palace. I got to sit in circles on the sidewalk outside said Palace and watch Internet admiration take physical hold in the acquaintance of kennyhoopla with the aforementioned company, and boy did it feel like a party. Not a high stakes gig with too many voices in a label-fueled race to everywhere, but a calm, independent, chill session complete with stomps, echoing shouts from the mosh, and a commanding catharsis of live performance with heart and great off-the-record commentary mid-set.
These gents have many wonderful things coming to them, and in a world that is obsessed with furiously relentless takeover-mentality in every industry, these guys are quietly, subtly and effortlessly taking the lead, leaving everyone to play catch up.
