Cut a Rug in Your Cords

If you’re one of the generous gentlemen lending an upper lip to Movember this month, we salute you. You’re also in luck, cuz 2012 comes equipped with the perfect soundtrack for your efforts. Pop Levi, one of the finest ‘staches in music today, has released some special Medicine – a record full of gritty boogies perfect for cuttin’ a rug in your corduroys.

Mr. Levi is a super peculiar gent. From his kidnapper-style artwork to quirky film collaborations with Bunny Holiday (the “slutwave” alt-girl, who you may know from – you guessed it – American Apparel ads), this guy is hip-deep in weird, in a way even Kevin Barnes can’t touch. Yet all that oddity somehow adds up to a record full of in-the-pocket, above-the-line excellence. In this EDM-sodden pop landscape, it’s beyond refreshing to hear songs that take a more classic approach to making people shake a tail feather.

Medicine features all the dirt-nasty instrumentation of old school Jack White, paired with a knockout dose of a funk and just a touch of avant-garde. Leading in with lead single “Strawberry Shake,” Levi gets toes a-tappin right away. “Rock Solid,” lives up to its’ title; a grungey and sexy little number with energy akin to early Yeah Yeah Yeahs – or anytime Iggy Pop. The rest of the album retains this glam sensibility to great effect, even in slow moments. The title track feels like a trippy twist on the ballads of Levi’s countrymen Spacehog, in their Resident Alien days. With a saucy whine to his vocal line and the “whop-whopping” of a driving guitar, “Medicine” absolutely begs to be gotten down with.

Beck proved it with Midnite Vultures, and Pop Levi’s arrived in this decade to remind us all: weird white guys totally know how to bring the funk. So wax up your new ‘stache and get on the floor, bro! Your medicine is waiting.