Pender Street Steppers - Openin' Up

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  • Pender Street Steppers are the heart of Mood Hut, a duo formed from the defunct band that birthed the label. Liam Butler and Jack Jutson embody the humble Vancouver crew's many stylistic facets, and their unique brand of strolling house borrows from the classic stuff as much as it does retro boogie and funk—the kind that gets released on People's Potential Unlimited. The hookup between the labels makes sense, then, and the Steppers deliver a monster 12-inch that slots right into PPU's dusty collection. With its rusty horns and warmed-over chords, "Openin Up" is so quaint it's almost cheeky. A punchy mixing job makes it sound huge, and some careful snare work adds further oomph while Jutson and Butler jam on the slow groove for eight minutes, with a mini-freakout in the middle that really gets a live feel across. "M Flight" floats on the same vibes, but this time the zig-zagging bassline becomes the focal point, strutting right through the lackadaisical vocal pads and '80s infomercial synths. The tune's final moments close the 12-inch with a jazzy stretch of hand percussion and noodling guitar, a reminder that their roots go deeper than house music—but what's best is how they synthesize all their ideas into such a pleasing whole.
  • Tracklist
      A Openin Up B M Flight
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