"he's a kid, he's a soul, he's a rag doll, he's a chemical..."
"Dead Weight" is the 5th song of Pleasure Craft's concept album "Walls, Mirrors and Windows" set to drop in the Spring of this year (2022). The name of the track feels appropriate. Beginning cinematically, I couldn't help but think of a dystopian future, or past, or both simultaneously crushed together into something else. Amid pretty chorale sounds, caustic disturbances move in like hulking, stalking electronic monsters. Once the feral drums ramp up (and I do love the kind of warehouse sound to the drums), Sam Lewis' artfully, pained, manic vocal performance (enhanced even further by the backing vox) elevates the compelling panorama of sounds. The way the rhythmic progs are thrown up against the drum groove feels wildly dramatic. Listen to this punchy groove with it's industrial nature and screaming tones and the potent framework could contain many things. The barrage of sounds could lend itself to rap, to dark spoken word, and, of course, to what Pleasure Craft delivers, their own form of blistering art punk.
While the songs that Pleasure Craft conjures up start from Sam's voice and pen, he generally build his own demos that are brought to bandmates Mingjia, guitarist River Radcliffe, and drummer Ben Green for them to flush out and reshape in their own way. The collaborations are everything and the process is part of Pleasure Crafts universe building. Especially important in building a concept album. Press notes reveal that "Walls, Mirrors and Windows" [has a three act structure which follows the character arc of the protagonist introduced in the band's recent single Bag Down. Dead Weight falls in the second act of the album where the protagonist grapples with self loathing and fear brought on by a newfound self awareness and introspection.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/samlewis.to/
https://www.pleasurecraftto.com/
https://www.instagram.com/pleasurecraftmusic/
https://soundcloud.com/pleasurecraftmusic
Pleasure Craft, which Lewis began in 2017 as a solo project, operates as a band in a loose sense: Lewis helms and writes demos for the songs, which he exports to bandmates Mingjia, guitarist River Radcliffe, and drummer Ben Green to add their respective parts. Lewis’ goal in assembling collaborators wasn’t to find musicians to follow his vision, but rather ones whose own vision would create something new, stronger than the sum of its parts. As a result, the tracks Lewis receives back are radically different—and better—than the demos he sends out.
This idiosyncrasy is one of Pleasure Craft’s most impressive and intriguing elements. Each Pleasure Craft show is likely to have a different lineup—Lewis explains that he’s never played two consecutive gigs with the same band. Yet the project’s musical and thematic identity is singular and unmistakable: it pinballs between new wave, alt-pop, synth, and indie rock with punkish sarcasm and staggering technical precision. Tying it all together is Lewis’ narration, at times a sneering drawl and others a belting howl, always sifting through what it means—and does not mean—to be a person raised and socialized as a man in 21st century North America.
Lewis says that previous Pleasure Craft releases, including 2019’s fantastic, raucous Ep2, were
experimental, serving as “practice records” while zeroing in on a solid identity. On “Bag Down,” that identity emerges with slicked-back hair, dripping in bravado and clad in a muscle top. If threatened, it’s prepared to throw fists on the disco ball dance floor at a grimey downtown club. But for both Pleasure Craft and the character in “Bag Down,” this is just the beginning. Stay tuned.
This idiosyncrasy is one of Pleasure Craft’s most impressive and intriguing elements. Each Pleasure Craft show is likely to have a different lineup—Lewis explains that he’s never played two consecutive gigs with the same band. Yet the project’s musical and thematic identity is singular and unmistakable: it pinballs between new wave, alt-pop, synth, and indie rock with punkish sarcasm and staggering technical precision. Tying it all together is Lewis’ narration, at times a sneering drawl and others a belting howl, always sifting through what it means—and does not mean—to be a person raised and socialized as a man in 21st century North America.
Lewis says that previous Pleasure Craft releases, including 2019’s fantastic, raucous Ep2, were
experimental, serving as “practice records” while zeroing in on a solid identity. On “Bag Down,” that identity emerges with slicked-back hair, dripping in bravado and clad in a muscle top. If threatened, it’s prepared to throw fists on the disco ball dance floor at a grimey downtown club. But for both Pleasure Craft and the character in “Bag Down,” this is just the beginning. Stay tuned.
Pleasure Craft, industrial rock, art punk, alt rock, experimental rock, future rock, post punk, concept album, "Walls, Mirrors and Windows", caustic disturbances, "Dead Weight", Sam Lewis,
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