babybaby_explores is a post-punk/ noise-pop trio hailing from Providence, RI. Originally a “pseudo research concept project” that morphed into a legit band, they’ve been active for a while, but Food Near Me, Weather Tomorrow is described as their first album to be officially released, pressed to 180 gram opaque brown vinyl by No Gold Records, the label co-founded by Andrew Angus of the band Liars. Although babybaby_explores has toured with fellow Providencians Lightning Bolt, the sound of this album’s ten songs is much nearer to The Slits gone electro-punk. Available March 3 in an edition of 500, it’s an impressive debut.
Formerly known as Baby; Baby: Explores the Reasons Why that Gum is Still on the Sidewalk, the tighter monikered babybaby_explores consists of Lids B-day on “effected vox” and sampler, sam m-h (a.k.a. m-h m-h) on electric guitar, and Gabe C-D on bass and drum machines. Their album was recorded and mixed by noted engineer Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets and mastered by the equally distinguished Heba Kadry, and its title is a combination of the two most common phrases entered into the Google search engine.
As the reader might’ve gathered, humor plays a major role in what babybaby_explores has cooked up on Food Near Me, Weather Tomorrow, However, I find it necessary to make the distinction that their music as it plays doesn’t hit me as particularly joke oriented; instead of funny, babybaby_explores is just fun (and this is where the comparison to The Slits is the strongest).
And also freaky (or, in their preferred spelling, fweaky). Opener “Gum” offers vibrant, reverberating hunks of layered echo, sprightly vocal lines capped with looped hiccups, murky rants, spring-loaded rhythms, and guitar that alternates between woozy ripples and shards of angular clang. Simultaneously imbued with post-punk spirit and unequivocally new, the whole effectively communicates the trio’s appealing oddity.
“New Band” establishes babybaby_explores’ adeptness at post-no-wavy arty dance grooving, and as such is a relatively direct statement. “Duck Song” is a decidedly tenser serving of ’80s Euro-angst sliding into outright perturbation, as Lids B-day gets increasing stressed out over the feeding of the titular fowl. The way she says “they’re throwing Wonder bread lazily around” is an album highlight.
“Untitled” retains the dance angle while getting nearer to subterranean electro-punk from the dawn of the ’80s, complete with audio samples at the start and surreal backward masked vocals at the close. From there, “Carolyn” features harder driving rhythms and a pop sensibility that grows increasingly warped with careening guitars and vocal undulations, while “Work Chip” dishes an icy retro-futuristic atmosphere, in large part due to the synthetic aspects of the instrumentation.
Contrasting, “Pants” scales the electro elements back as the post-punk needle enters the red zone. My guess is that it wouldn’t be difficult to pass off the track as having been slated for release by Rough Trade around 1979 or so, but cancelled when the band broke up and took the tapes. And yet, it’s not a bit out of place next to the tangibly more contemporary thrust of “Can,” with its sturdy pulsing foundation and surges of guitar.
Late track “Twiddle” is clearly the album’s single, a showcase for Lids B-day (who takes on an almost early ’80s rap flavor), but then closing track “Anthem” isn’t far behind, bursting forth with a dancy edge that doesn’t relent until its abrupt finale. Altogether, the freshness, high energy, and eccentricity of Food Near Me, Weather Tomorrow is cohesive and bodes well for future releases.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B+
