"I got war on my mind, I got war on my mind, I GAWT it...
Coincidence or kismet? I just binged almost all of "BEEF", the road ragey series on Netflix created by Lee Sung Jin. With Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino and then I wake up to find "War on my Mind" by Richmond, Virginia based indie outfit It Is. This is the perfect marriage, "BEEF" ends each episode with an iconic appropriate song and "War on my Mind" feels pitch perfect.
The band models their sound after "cool-style music, with '50s and '60s vinyl records and era memorabilia decorating the walls, green and pink booths, and a large counter with seating that gives you a full view of the kitchen", a description that begs a lot of curious questions but it explains (maybe) why "War on my Mind" feels so free and sonically visceral. Listening to the jam band tones, the wonderful wonky vocal aesthetic spouting focused words that might not mean anything but might mean everything too reminds me of past artists and time frames.
"War on my Mind" with it's art punk attitude, funky psych rock deliveries and jagged, house party approach fuels thoughts of unique off kilter art. Like an amalgam of 70's anything goes aesthetic pop psychedelia, think Harry Nilsson (Put the Lime in the Coconut), the 80's East Coast new wave / art punk / progressive indie iterations of The Talking Heads and spin off band The Tom Tom Club AND the 90's art punk / freak folk collisions of Modest Mouse ('The Lonesome Crowded West' period), It Is feels like a band that follows the 'inklings' in their head instead of the crowd. Besides the bass lines are outrageous, the dense 60's hippie rock rhythmic explosions are soulful and it contains a surprising Led Zeppelin breakdown like no other. Who could want, ask for more.
"War on my Mind" is track 4 from It Is' new album "The Exister" which you can check out on their Bandcamp.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7nOFlPrXhuU9ssIUNFxCOx
https://itsitis.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/it-is-band
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuTS5cSgDOYk_TXiY_17CGw
IT IS can eat 55 Burgers, Shakes and Fries and have developed something of a cult following along the southern tip of psych. The Va-based band models its sound after cool-style music, with '50s and '60s vinyl records and era memorabilia decorating the walls, green and pink booths, and a large counter with seating that gives you a full view of the kitchen. The BAND is heavy on burgers and fries, sandwiches and cheesesteaks, and frozen custard scoops and milkshakes. One of the draws has been the BANDS 55 Challenge: 55 ounces of burger between two buns, dressed, with fries and a 24-ounce drink. If a BAND can eat it all within 30 minutes, the dish ($29.99) would be free. The IT IS website lists hundreds of people who have completed the challenge, including reigning champ TED DANSON, who inhaled the 3½-pound disaster in a minute and 53 seconds.
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