Girl Talk & Erick the Architect - “Trouble in Paradise”

Electronic producer Girl Talk is best known for his mashup albums that came out in the second half of the 2000s. On Night Ripper, Feed the Animals, and All Day, he mixed classic pop and rock songs with the top hip hop and pop tunes of the day. Though the selection is dated by now, the variety and fluidity of the mixes still makes them exciting listens.

His new single “Trouble in Paradise” with Erick the Architect of Flatbush Zombies just passes the two-minute mark. The track’s only sample is the pulsing bass and some vocal snippets from Julian Casablancas + The Voidz’s “Take Me in Your Army,” which gives “Trouble in Paradise” a dark, synthetic sound. Erick delivers a passionate verse about over-policing and police violence, but spends the second half of the track saying the hook ad nauseam.

Girl Talk’s last release was 2014’s Broken Ankles EP, a collaboration with Philly rapper Freeway. Flatbush Zombies dropped their sophomore album, Vacation in Hell, earlier this month.

-Owen Murray

The Voidz - Virtue

The Voidz's everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to rock music results in a vibrant sophomore album.

The Voidz - "Pointlessness"

Following the (fraternal) twin lead singles "Leave It in My Dreams" and "QYURRYUS," The Voidz have shared "Pointlessness," the closing track of their sophomore album Virtue. As the title suggests, the song is a bit of a downer in both theme and sonic palette, but judging from this and Tyranny closer "Off to War," it seems the band has a knack for bleak finishers.

Virtue arrives March 30 via Cult / RCA.

-Austen

The Voidz - "Leave It in My Dreams" / "QYURRYUS"

Fresh off a name simplification, The Voidz have shared the lead single from their upcoming sophomore album, Virtue. "Leave It in My Dreams" is certainly more modest than the epic "Human Sadness," which served as the first taste of the band's full-length debut, Tyranny. This new track actually smacks more of The Strokes than The Voidz, but is ever so slightly more off-kilter and hypnagogic. That said, it's a catchy tune and is more enjoyable than what The Strokes have been up to in recent years. We're optimistic about the new album so long as the band balances out straightforward songs like this one with something more far out...

That's the spice.

Virtue is due out March 30 via RCA and Cult.

Julian Casablancas+The Voidz - "Human Sadness"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8k3qB61lhk&feature=youtu.be You know, to hell with the people who say Julian Casablancas should accept his limits as a frontman. Technically speaking, sure his vocal range isn't the widest and his voice is most appealing when it's belting out a catchy, bad-ass hook; but I feel when he chooses to break away from those things, it only enhances his DGAF appeal. The above 11-minute-long art-rock odyssey "Human Sadness," taken from Tyranny (his forthcoming full-length debut with The Voidz), finds Casablancas as far out of his depth as a singer-songwriter as he's ever been. But rather than sounding like a crushing defeat at the hands of his limitations, it's more of a bold stand against them. He doesn't exactly nail the vocal highs and lows The Voidz's multi-phased composition calls for, but he gives this Sisyphean task his all, which I'd argue is just as (if not more) admirable. In my book Casablancas sounds no less bad-ass doing odd and surprising than he does doing punchy and immediate.

Looking forward to giving Tyranny a good listen when it drops September 23 via Cult Records.