Loose Buttons – “Dream Life Rotation”
Photo by Austin Withers
New York’s Loose Buttons impress with the swaggering and infectious “Dream Life Rotation.”
“Dream Life Rotation” is a joyful and intense record that feels like a relentless celebration of garage rock revival and new wave. It is such a joy to hear guitar-driven rock ‘n’ roll like this, with such an unexpected blend of styles woven into the fabric. In fact, it is surprisingly cohesive given its use of so many different textures. Most of the composition is very bare bones, but we get hints of Blondie, Joy Division, The Strokes and even an elongated ending reminiscent of the early records of Oasis.
From start to finish, we are propelled through the composition by the krautrock-punkish drums. Underneath, the awesome, bubbling, magnetic bass weaves its way vividly through the track. As the song ebbs and flows, we gain layers of attacking, driving guitars, again reminiscent of The Strokes, while atmospheric keys add to the unusual nature of the song. But it works, and it works magnificently.
The vocal again has shades of The Strokes, but also The Velvet Underground. It is probably the most off-kilter element of the track, but it is stylishly done. Conversational and relaxed, the performance is turned into something incredibly infectious by the group’s celebratory shouts and backing vocals. You can tell this band was having fun when they recorded this record.
Loose Buttons’ Eric Nizgretsky elaborates: “We’ve been trying to pull the rabbit out of the hat for most of our lives, squeezing it into sub-three-minute songs and hoping it lands. Somewhere along the way I realised that if you do that long enough with the people you love, it stops feeling like a trick. The people who are by your side through all of that, they become the ones you want around long after the lights go out. That’s the forever in it. You came to see magic.”
Buoyant and elegantly rowdy, “Dream Life Rotation” is taken from the new album You Came To See Magic which is out now.
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