The weirdest collective of musicians this side of the Mississippi, Atlanta's Back Pockets hit the road again in support of their new record, Fast Cloud Slow Cloud. This roving band of oddities is poised to make a stop at the Speakeasy in Lake Worth on Wednesday, October 12.
Featuring an assembly of grown adults in diapers, face paint, fairy wings, and buckets of drumsticks, they bring a unique brand of enthralling, driving music to the already odd spectacle of a live presentation.
If you slept on their last appearance at Propaganda in January, you probably heard about what unfolded in some form or another. With a performance worthy of preservation through campfire story, they vivaciously assaulted revelers with bags of candy, encouraged attendees to slap their diapered asses, and shreded every eardrum in the house with waves of high-decibel banjo plucks.
While Fast Cloud Slow Cloud is a clear departure from the Southern twang felt on February's Hello Dandelion, it is not without merit. The group's sound has matured substantially, feeling less campy, less whimsical. It is still plentiful in strangeness, the centerpiece being vocalist Emily Kempf's fluctuations from deep, raspy-breathed hums to screeching, echoed screams, backed by their signature use of driving percussion. The record holds much more appeal with its pop sensibility, saving the banjo for the record's closing track, "So Lovely," where it is coupled with a thumping dance beat, a hillbilly jam to thrust your pelvis to. As the record comes to a close, the listener is treated to Kempf and friends belting out barnyard animal noises, finishing with frenzied laughter, a fitting summation to everything Back Pockets encompass.
Fast Cloud Slow Cloud is available to stream in its entirety via their official Bandcamp page (note: one of the tags at the bottom of the page includes "gay art ruckus pop," which we think is awesome).
Listen to "So Lovely" here:
Joining them onstage will be local favorites the Dewars and Family Drugs. Needless to say, the show will be coated in buckets of strange.
The Back Pockets. With the Dewars and Family Drugs. 8 p.m. Wednesday, October 12, at the Speakeasy Lounge, 129 N. Federal Highway, Lake Worth. Tickets cost $5 for 21-and-up, $10 for under 21. Click here.
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