LAUNDRY DAY - “CRÈME”

SXSW 2020 (cancelled) - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 5

Pairs Well With…Tyler, the Creator, IDLES, Bleachers

LAUNDRY DAY are true fusion artists, incorporating hip hop, jazz, indie pop, and alt rock into their weirdly catchy sound. The emerging yet prolific quintet builds their songs like segmented works, disparate sections bleeding together like looped experiments of pop music. The NYC artists released their third full-length HOMESICK in 2019 and followed up with the loaded four-song EP LIGHT UP SHOES 2 last fall. The latter opens with drum and bass rhythms in R&B funk blender “CRÈME”, a track that diverts to psychedelic rap territory before tightening with jazz-infused urgency, setting the tone of anything-goes from the jump. “BULLDOG” induces some new-wave synth pop and steaming arena rock to LAUNDRY DAY’s canvas, again somehow keeping a tight, measured grip while washing their music over with any genre that could come up on shuffle. This level of creativity turns what could be a pop record into something much more fulfilling and real, keeping artistry forward but not letting up on the hidden hooks within the collective’s songwriting. (Kevin McStravick)