- "We included raw and unreleased Archie material we've been testing out live," Brooklyn trio Archie Pelago said of their RA podcast in 2013. "The plan was loose, and the execution was pure improvisation." This jazz-inspired process of play-and-evolve comes instinctively to Archie Pelago: they're all trained, remarkably talented musicians. And while a turntable is part of their live act, so is a cello and saxophone. Early iterations of the tracks on their second record for Mister Saturday Night, Clammy Customer, can also be found in their RA podcast, but now they've been honed—the arrangements made more intricate, the eccentric jams blown out to full effect.
When listening to this music, it's thrilling to imagine it being recorded live. "Clammy Customer"'s rollicking call and response sounds like the band playing face-to-face with singer Gabriel Garzón-Montano, which is just one of the cylinders firing on the record's better half. The arrangements are unbelievably wild—its jubilant claps and twittering instruments all seem turbo-charged, which just about takes a campy turn during the outro.
The B-side is a shade dull in comparison, though well-arranged all the same. Everything is more patient and blue on "Madame Suede Nightshade," its vocals and lovely sax solo falling like leaves to the floor. At first listen, Archie Pelago's EP may seem overzealous, but its complex phases become something to appreciate. You can find new ways to hear it with each spin.
TracklistA1 Clammy Customer feat. Gabriel Garzón-Montano
B1 Madame Suede Nightshade