The key is movement, except of course when it isn’t. It’s kind of hard to explain, but that seems to be the idea behind the upcoming self-titled debut LP from Closet Disco Queen, the newly arrived duo of guitarist Jona Nido and drummer Luc Hess, the latter also of Red Kunz and formerly the Ocean Collective. From Fatso Jetson-style jazzy spaciousness in “Hey Sunshine!” to the grand post-rock heft of “Black Saber,” they seem bent on sharp turns, on-a-dime twists and in songs like “Catch You on the Flip Side,” go, go, go. Even a droner like “What’s Your 20?” seems to want you to hurry up and wait, a tension underlying that finds its release in the nod-ready angular riffing of “Caposhi,” which follows and leads the way into the aforementioned “Catch You on the Flip Side,” the first of two extended cuts positioned to close their respective vinyl halves.

And one can tell from the moniker under which Nido and Hess operate, their song titles and the ain’t-nuthin’-but-a-party vibe they put out that it’s all supposed to be taken very lightly, like the two just got together and tossed this stuff in a pot to see how it boiled down. It’s a classic misdirect. Closet Disco Queen are waving party rock in your face and meanwhile, up their other sleeve is a textured progressive rollout, so that “What’s Your 20?” or side B’s more contemplative “IYD (In Your Dreams)” and 12-minute closer “Black Saber” push into ambience rare for a duo but engaging through layers of keys, drone wash and of course a feverish bout of distortion. Granted, that turn comes after “The Shag Wag,” which seems to be the name of the central riff as much as the song itself and is missing only a Chubby Checker-type hook to turn it into the dance craze of some alternate dimension, but that’s just the misdirection at work. Nido and Hess are offering a richer experience than they let on, and while it’s got plenty of boogie to match the stated intent, there’s a hidden door behind which one finds a whole other kind of party.

In the end, that only makes the album a more fascinating listen, because since the whole idea of the band is Closet Disco Queen, which as they put it is telling the story of a good girl who’s secretly bad, they’re essentially masking their own purposes in the same way. Granted, Closet Progressive Heavy Rock Duo would be nowhere near as catchy a name, but with the flow they enact between their self-titled’s seven tracks and the range they show in the process, it would fit all the same. Yeah, it’s a good time, but if you just take it as fluff, you’re missing out on the solid foundation beneath.

Closet Disco Queen will release Closet Disco Queen on June 12 through Hummus Records, Division Records and This Charming Man Records, with the promise of a European tour to come. Today I have the pleasure of hosting “Hey Sunshine!” for streaming, and you’ll find it on the player below, followed by more info on the album, and a special drum cam video of Hess during the recording. Please enjoy:

CLOSET DISCO QUEEN announces the release of their self-titled debut album due to be released on June 12th

via Hummus Records, Division Records, and This Charming Man Records

Jona Nido and Luc Hess (Coilguns, KUNZ, The Ocean, The Fawn, Schwarz, etc.) have a new hot friend. She came out of her auntie’s closet and will ruin your teenage disco. The loudest cheerleader you’ve ever seen – barely dressed and roughly combed, queue jumping everyone at the entrance of the club. Here she comes, out of nowhere and without warning, carried around by two of the sexiest bodyguards – like she always belonged. Fact is that girl can dance. She dares. She rocks. Odd and weird, charming enough to turn any of her nights into a freak show. We all knew these two guys were party animals, but this band will bring them to a whole new level of frenzy. That CLOSET DISCO QUEEN delivers 70’s instrumental psycheledic kraut rock’n’roll progressive beats for your ass to shake and your shoes to burn. Huuuh, you nasty girl.

Guitar players are sissies and Jona Nido is a dancing queen. A fairly secret one though, who hides his riffs like we all do with W’s in our granny scrabble bag. “Nah, this can’t be a serious tune. Nah, I have a hyperactive record label to run almost by myself. Nah, I already have three awesome bands to tour with. Nah, I would really need to be too drunk to play it live. Nah. Pink leggings would shrink my lovely booty ass.” Any reason was good to keep all of this six strings epicness in its closet. But then came Luc Hess, the undestructible rock beats and vodka shots machine, and he said : dude, we need a trick to party more. This trick, don’t call it a band, became CLOSET DISCO QUEEN and by the way all of their sounds are excellent, truely experimental and one-of-a-kind classics. Also, if proof was needed, Jona Nido is the freakiest guitar player in town

The band will also embark on a European tour from June 19th to July 6th. Full list of shows to be announced soon.

Tracklist:
01 Hey Sunshine!
02 What’s Your 20?
03 Caposhi
04 Catch You On The Flip Side
05 The Shag Wag
06 IYD (In Your Dreams)
07 Black Saber

Credits:
Engineered by Boris Gerber and Raphaël Bovey
Recorded live at Bikini Test, La Chaux-de-Fonds, CH by Jona Nido and Luc Hess
Mixed by Raphale Bovey at MyRoom Studio, Lausanne, CH
Mastered by Magnus Lindberg at Magnus Lindberg Productions, Stockholm, SWE
Artwork by David Haldimann (https://www.facebook.com/davidhaldimannart)
Photographs by Stan Of Persia (https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanofpersia/)
Videos by Camille de Pietro

Closet Disco Queen, “Hey Sunshine!” Drum Cam

Closet Disco Queen on Thee Facebooks

Preorder at Hummus Records

Preorder at Division Records

Preorder at This Charming Man Records

Tags: Closet Disco Queen, Closet Disco Queen Self-Titled, Division Records, Hummus Records, self-titled, Switzerland, This Charming Man Records

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2015 at 11:29 am and is filed under audiObelisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.