Gxillium sounds like a band I might’ve seen in high school at an American Legion Hall. They would've been wearing Diesel jeans with white belts, and they would’ve been playing blast beats. “jeff’s song” is harsh and technical, which is balanced by the fact that the band is dressed up as Teletubbies on the album cover.
I’m back from Paris, and I’m still licking my wounds after that failed mission to O’Tacos on Thanksgiving. I’m also still yearning for a bit of that old-time French Touch sound. Luckily, K.I.T. just dropped a banging three-tracker of hard-chop house that makes me want to put on a deep V and pump my fist at the Rex Club. Between this EP and the label Boomerang, it seems like Belgium might be the country keeping the electro flame burning.
41 (Kyle Richh, Jenn Carter, TaTa) and PlaqueBoyMax “Save Me”
On a somewhat similar tip is this unreleased tune by one of the best posses in club rap. “Save Me” flips the same Katy Perry sample Chief Keef flipped on a recent song, but the group turns that source material into an uptempo tune that in an ideal world would be making its way into a DJ Pauly D set. Or at least a Boys Noize set.
In the video for “ms. crashout,” k3 wears tabis and a princess tiara and brandishes a hatchet like Violent J. Later, a cop gets tied up by a group of her friends. It’s 2024-style Atlanta distorto rap, and it has all the punk-ish energy that comes along with that—plus a good chorus. At one point, k3 gets off a bar roasting people who shop at Shein. Contemporary American music.
Chicago legend Valee did a track with Surf Gang? OK! The beat keeps drifting and suddenly I’m on the Dan Ryan Expressway listening to Power 92. Heads up to all you New Yorkers: there is a pretty good Chicago-style hot dog spot in Windsor Terrace, actually. Dog Day Afternoon.
MIX OF THE WEEK: “Bianca Oblivion B2B Jubilee Boiler Room Los Angeles”
Here is a great hour of dance music from two great dance music DJs. It just so happens to take place at some sort of branded sneaker “activation,” which is just how things work nowadays. Hell, it’s how things have worked for a minute now. Did I once get a couple grand from a car company to shoot a music video? Did I once get flown to China to play some shows for Converse that also featured American skateboarders and a half-pipe installed in the venue? When you are an American rock and roller, you take the money where it comes. God knows I’ve never gotten any grants.