Vinyl of the Month

Artist: Judi Chicago

Title: Technicolor Chrome & Chicken Bone / Universal Butter

Format: 7-inch

Label: Solutionist Records

Manufacturer: United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN

Side A of Judi Chicago’s latest 7-inch, Technicolor Chrome & Chicken Bone, opens with those familiar disco-punk sounds of fuzzy keyboard notes and down-and-dirty Casios, with Brit Ben Coleman’s sharp, speaking-singing voice coming across in his aloof, snarky manner, swaggering across the track with backing vocals being sung in the higher, disco-party manner by Travis Thatcher. The track starts as a simple keyboard-backed track, with that straightforward clicking Casio beat serving as a solid background for Coleman’s cavalier lyrics and arrogant demeanor, which only prompts people to dance harder. But soon enough, Hammond-esque keyboards and spangly guitars sneak their way on during the track, giving Technicolor Chrome more depth than the band has had in previous releases.

With offhand lyrics like, “You might have higher heels than me / But I’ll piss on your from a height” and “I’ll stick a straw in you and suck the syrup out,” Judi Chicago creates delightfully dirty lyrics that all at once take the imagination to the gutter while remaining completely innocuous. All in all, it means less attention should be paid on the words and more on the infectiously grimy beats, which make every Judi Chicago show a notoriously funky dance party.

Side two, “Universal Butter,” brings in harsher sounds, with screeching keys and Coleman’s forbidding vocals offset by funky percussion and brass. “Butter” gets more intricate as the track goes on, with echoing saxophone blows coming in from seemingly miles away and layered beats from physical and electronic instruments building and building until the song can take no more and it implodes, leaving behind a couple of seconds of tapped blocks to fizzle out the track.

www.myspace.com/judichicago

-Leila Regan-Porter