"Genuine Psychic", the full length debut by New York based Lulu Lewis (out via Ilegalia Records) is a smile inducing collection of sounds. The corners of your mouth pinched and pushed up by sounds and imagery darkly drenched in a sort of post punk gothic jag filtered through proto punk filters. City Below The Hunter feels like something that exists in a dark smoky punk club circa 1978- there is an industrial electronic push meets surf punk guitars meets Lena Lovish meets Devo meets X meets the B-52's thing happening. The descending pyschedelic sway of the title track Genuine Psychic is horror pop-ish, 1950's stilted dreams with a nightmarish edge and yet the lead guitar lines that make me think of Italian Horror flick is bitterly beautifully. Dig Beat with it's sphaghetti western guitar lines and sultry vocal performance ("...look at your hands hun, they are praying but what is it (?) that they touch...") will make you smile more and your eyes widen as it swirls and gets bigger.
Lulu Lewis is the husband and wife duo of Pablo Martin (Tom Tom Club, The Du -Rites) and Dylan Hundley (Metropolitan) and their forays into post punk, gothy, soul infused songs have experimental fingerprints. They dub their sound as "Harlem Punk" which feels appropriate as you listen to the new wave-eque pure early punk sound of Intelligent Life featuring Brendan Cany of Fugazi. It is a pogo pounding, plastic skirt wearing track. The synth bottom heavy jagged bebop sound of The Sidewalks suggest that fertile time when disco dance steps merged with proto punk. It is alter universe stuff, wet tongue and cheeky. I want to hear this in a club full of people. One Note Rock N Roll is funky soul punk again deeply imaginative and transports you to people hanging in leather coats after 2 in the morning. Circling back to the opening track Gone To LA feels dangerous, cool and yet absolutely inviting. The almost Casio punk sound of Rock The Deer is protest punk at it's finest. Maybe the most strange and live sounding track Moving Fast pushes indie film buttons. The breathy percussion is at once Ari Aster creepy yet provocative. It is spartan, maybe improvisational and sinfully cool.
The last track, Eternal Youth might coalesce the bands highly art punk aesthetic. It moves beautifully, the tom tom beat that has the spring of a giant rubber band undulates forward, as guitars dance, bass pulsates, synth Farfisa-ish strains feel like a subway line and Dylan Hundley vox sound so fucking dreamy. Bravo Lulu Lewis.
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Robb Donker
Genuine Psychic, out July 12 via Ilegalia Records
First Single, Eternal Youth, out June 14th via Ilegalia as well
Release show with the Messthetics at Union Pool (Brooklyn, NY), July 12, 7 p.m
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