Description

Oaklands Naked Roommate have been slinking around the Bay Area lighting up stages, shaking asses & confounding listeners since 2018, when the group originally just the duo of real-life partners Andy Jordan & Amber Sermeno (both formerly of The World) self-released a cassette of demos (2018s Naked Roommate). Members Michael Mig Zamora & Alejandra Alcala (Blues Lawyer) joined soon after to augment the sound & live band with their proper full-length album Do The Duvet, co-released in September of 2020 via UK label Upset! The Rhythm & Trouble In Mind. 2024 finds the lineup expanded even further to incorporate the horn section of Geoff Saba & Jeanne Oss on tenor & alto saxophones as well as percussion & marimba as the band readies their sophomore effort, the dizzyingly ecstatic Pass The Loofah.

Recorded by members Andy Jordan & Mig Zamora from 2021-2023 as time & restrictions allowed, Pass The Loofah retains the wild energy of their debut, but leans into the rhythmic throbs perpetuated by forbears like Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Lizzy Mercier Descloux & ESG; the signature sound of UKs On-U Sound & NYCs 99 Records, but with a decidedly West Coast irreverence & a knack for absurdist exposition. Make no mistake, this is music designed to make your body MOVE & Naked Roommate wont stop until they ve made sure every ass is shook. The band freely incorporates elements of the dancier side of post-punk (think A Certain Ratio or Liquid Liquid) as well as disco, funk, & house music. However, the groups uplifting melodicism belies a deeper subtext, understanding the importance of the sense of community of dance music & the culture surrounding it and leaning into a Neo-socialist lyrical context. Shit is fucked, & we get thru it by helping one another & acknowledging & addressing the failures of disaster Capitalism & tech-bro hegemony (a state the band is all-too familiar with, living in The Bay Area) Take the first single Bus; a four-on-the-floor banger & salutary paeon to the ups & downs of the peoples transport that throbs & pulses with a late-night sashay (and a bridge that launches the tune into the stratosphere).

Elsewhere, Fight Flight s funky horn stabs and Sermenos slinky vocals swoon over Numan-esque synth squiggles that are fortified & funkified toward the dance floor. Broken Whisper edges into new territor y for the group, adding a Caribbean flavor ala Kid Creole or The Specials that punctuates the persistent & synthetic beats underneath. Meanwhile instrumental interludes like Ducky & Viv, G-Y pt. 1 & G-Y pt. 2 oscillate into zones of sci-fi meets soap opera soundtracks, sounding not unlike the electronic experiments of UK industrial pioneers Chris & Cosey. Album closer I Cant Be Found might be the albums secret weapon; It s swooning synth melody & processed vocals recall early Daft Punk or MGMT by way of Derrick Carter & The Au Pairs. It s a beautiful song; perfect for the late night (or early morning) car ride home from the club.