aural arousal

7 Straight Musicians Cranking Great Queer Sounds

Queer bands rawk and Lady Gaga‘s pretty good. But sometimes great queer music comes from straight musicians too: artists willing to bend time and sound into highbrow synth-rock, incestual drum and bass dubstep, Brooklyn dance psychildelica, and confessional acoustics that’ll make you moister than a snack cake. Yes ladies, gents, and everyone in between—here’s some of the queerest, most delightful music from straight bands that you’ve never heard.

NOTE: Admittedly, I prefer indie rock and synthpop, so I didn’t include any metal, rap, or super-experimental music in my top 7. These are all bands I caught in Austin, and there’s also not much racial diversity. I did, however try to choose bands that sounded unlike anything I’d ever heard. And though none are queer-identified, I’ve covered some male and female rockers in the past. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5h2LRvBQ5Q

HOMETOWN: Newcastle, Kent, and Manchester England

WHERE WE CAUGHT THEM: The British Embassy at Latitude 30

SOUNDS LIKE: A New Wave version of The Shins

WHAT’S “QUEER” ABOUT THEM?: They self-produce all of their amazingly weird videos.

LISTEN TO THIS NOW: “MY KZ, YR BF”

While their name may evoke the famous Underworld song, Everything Everything is definitely not a techno band. The quartet’s brainy blend of synth pop and prog rock exuberantly shifts from low to high tempo and low to high key, seamlessly incorporating keyboard and guitar with glee. They just came out with their 12-track debut Man Alive and though some of its tune feature similar song structure each proves excellent in completely different ways. For example, while “Photoshop Handsome” contains madcap lyrics about the folly of artificiality, MY KZ YR BF sets a lovers’ confrontation amid a citywide bombing, and their debut track “Suffragette, Suffragette” ends with a dramatic falsetto harmony you’ve asking, “Who’s gonna sit on your face when I’m gone? Who’s gonna sit on your face when I’m not there?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJSp6HCkS6Q

HOMETOWN: Bordeaux, France

WHERE WE CAUGHT HER:The Galaxy Patio

SOUNDS LIKE: Tegan and Sara but folkier, more vulgar and neurotic.

WHAT’S “QUEER” ABOUT HER?: She never uses a set list or a consistent backing band. She’ll either play her 3 hour sets solo or with whatever musician friends she has around.

LISTEN TO THIS NOW: “I’ll Kill Her”

At first listen, the scratchy-voiced French-accented crooner sounds like a optimistic, mild-mannered girl who’s had her heart broken by one jerk too many. But listen more closely and you’ll realize she’s absolutely twisted in troublingly familiar ways. She’s a lover alright but her songs peel away the sticky sweetness of romance revealing the obsessive qualities of lust and angst. In her song “My Wet Dreams” she sings, “And now when I look at you I’m red like a tomato—I hardly articulate ‘Hello.’ / And I’m so ashamed cause every night every night, I see you in my wet dream. You are just like a porn star and I suck your cock like a whore.” We’ve all been there, am I right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sdq6SxYyxE

HOMETOWN: Atlanta, Georgia

WHERE WE CAUGHT THEM: La Zona Rosa

SOUNDS LIKE: Tom Waits with a rocking’ backup band

WHAT’S “QUEER” ABOUT THEM?: They allegedly got booted off of Wikipedia and the music site The Hype Machine for resorting to hijinks to shamelessly promote their band.

LISTEN TO THIS NOW: The video above, “Setback”

A hip-hop/rock eight-piece who hail from dirty Atlanta, The Constellations probably best describe their sound in their song “Step Right Up”: “the DJ spinning some 70’s porno funk… there’s a black angel named Blondie who recites poetry while crushing cans of tallboy Papbst Blue Ribbon in between her titties.” Alongside their sweat-drench keyboardist and swinging guitars, they have two female look-alike backup singers with quasi-lesbian appeal. Plus, gay-for-publicity rapper Asher Roth and Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo appear on their debut album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMMRkclZ450

HOMETOWN: London, United Kingdom

WHERE WE CAUGHT THEM: Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop

SOUNDS LIKE: Keane and Interpol playing a damp dive bar.

WHAT’S “QUEER” ABOUT THEM?: Their self-funded and digitally-released second album, Union stayed off of the UK charts despite its high number of downloads because it lacked a physical CD.

LISTEN TO THIS NOW: The song above “Misplaced”

After his mother died, The Boxer Rebellion’s lead singer Nathan Nicholson left his hometown of Maryville, Tennessee for London where he soon met his 3 bandmates. As such, the band retains a driving melancholy quality with rhythmic drums, deeply emotive guitars that Nicholson’s sailing vocals that soar with simultaneous hope and ache. Their songs do sound like what you’ve come to expect from Brit pop, but with a slowly building elegance that gives them unsettling and cathartic power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MLdf7L0kFQ

HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, New York

WHERE WE CAUGHT THEM: Club DeVille

SOUNDS LIKE: If Pink Floyd made MGMT-style dance music.

WHAT’S “QUEER” ABOUT THEM?: Their live shows combine their with the trippy electronic visuals of Brooklyn-based artist Alicia Scardella.

LISTEN TO THIS NOW: “Sleep Paralysist”

Neon Indian turns the best bits of retro beats, psychedelia, synth-pop, 8-bit bleeps, and bass into summertunes that sound nostalgic yet unlike what you’ve heard. The lyrics in “Sleep Paralysist” and “Should Have Taken Acid With You” evoke a sense of perpetual longing, a desire that grooves along without fulfillment. Though their 30-minute debut CD often sounds like a cassette that’s been warped by the sun, the lost time provide a hazy yet colorful auditory trip that longs for reliving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HUgvYTx_2Y

HOMETOWN: Indianapolis, Indiana

WHERE WE CAUGHT THEM: Beauty Bar

SOUNDS LIKE: A darker, less-optimistic version of Outkast

WHAT’S “QUEER” ABOUT THEM?: They mix punk, ghost choirs, hymns, house, club music, and hip-hop… really damned well.

LISTEN TO THIS NOW: “Light”

There’s a sort of nervous paranoia and madness that careens through Jookabox’s sound as the 4-member outfit creates a broken but lively urban soundscape populated by grizzly guitars, pulsing drums, and overdubbed songs about ghost lovers, false pregnancies, and urban decay. But while songs like “Phantom Don’t Go” and “East Side Bangs/East Side” pop with a danceable hip-hop vibe, you may not know how to handle tunes like “Light” and “Let’s Go Mad Together”. Accessible, yes. But they’re still considered an experimental band—so though you may feel a groove coming on, you also may feel a bit creepy and sad while moving to the beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L73OLaG4_kA

HOMETOWN: London, UK

WHERE WE CAUGHT THEM: The Mohawk Patio

SOUNDS LIKE: A slow, smooth combination of Portishead and Massive Attack.

WHAT’S “QUEER” ABOUT THEM?: When guitarists/vocalists Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim croon about sex and relationships they may be singing to themselves, each other, or as the other person; an idea made even more taboo by the fact they could pass for siblings.

LISTEN TO THIS NOW: Their song “Intro” (above) was made popular by its inclusion in an Olympic AT&T commercial starring Japanese-American speed-skater Apolo Anton Ohno.

If you’ve never heard of British dubstep bands like Digital Mystikz, Burial, and Shackleton you’re missing out on a modern English sound that evokes the mood of brooding intense rainy walk home from a 4am club, doused in drink, drug, and desire. It’s heavy in drum and bass utilizing reverb, pitch, and stutter effects to create haunting synth-soundscapes. But just as bar scenes can create heartbreak, The XX croon about unrequited love in the form of melting glaciers and sleepwalkers lost in subterranean cities with evocative, ironic lyricism. Consider this bit from their song “Fantasy”: “For the desired effect/ Would you come back August or June, June?/ And I hate that tomorrow’s too soon/ But this collision, came mid bloom.” Their soulful tunes elevate you into a deliciously dark destination.

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