By It’s our Bandcamp Picks of the Week, featuring the colorful noise pop of doefriends’ I WANT TO LOVE AGAIN and glossy alt-R&B of Mk.gee’s TWO STAR & THE DREAM POLICE!
doefriends – I WANT TO LOVE AGAIN
Genre: Noise Pop, Bitpop, Bedroom Pop
Favorite Tracks: “how to feel alive,” “i don’t know if you hate or love me,” “a song about a cartoon”
Jess, the sole artist behind doefriends, writes on her Bandcamp page that these cozy, emo-tinged tunes are “about a lot of things that mean a lot to [her].” She’s not the only one recognizing their importance: Jess’ debut I WANT TO LOVE AGAIN explores navigating the trials and tribulations of relationships under an eye-catching, cartoonish pink flair. Beneath bittersweet blips, her bit-crushed voice narrates the struggles of desiring physical intimacy, handling social scenarios, and trying to stay self-assured. The album’s inviting, sweet overtones make pondering those very emotions an enticing endeavor.
It was Jess’ Y2K-era artwork and chirpy bitpop right out of a Cartoon Network show that lured me to listen, but her snappy melodies and pensive lyrical introspection kept me engaged. “how to feel alive” opens repeating the phrase like a Speak & Spell toy, whirring with plasticky keyboards. “i don’t know if you hate or love me” introduces an emo edge, as stilted acoustic chords dissolve into shoegazing guitars while Jess defeatedly lays out the song’s titular sentiment. “drunk again” has a kooky, chugging groove with words about wanting to be just that—drunkenly happy with friends once more—but Jess combats her hesitancy with a hypothetical thought we’ve all wondered: “Maybe if I tell you something I will follow through.”
My favorite, especially as an internet dweller, is “a song about a cartoon,” where Jess nails conveying one’s adoration of a hand-drawn apparition on a screen. The cutesy song is laced with MIDI-like twinkles and pop punk drum kicks, igniting the head-over-heels sensation that comes with fawning over a fictional character. She celebrates self-actualization from this behavior: “You’re not real / But you’re real to me / You make me smile when I see you on my screen.” A cartoon likeness, hero, or even crush can ground your identity if you wholeheartedly acknowledge them. It’s a heartfelt escapism from mundane reality, but as the song’s cathartic ending dissipates, so does losing yourself with that toony companion.
The stress of uncertainty after being estranged is a through line on I WANT TO LOVE AGAIN—”waiting,” in all of its noisy indie pop glory, particularly tackles this notion. The other tunes also discuss relatable setbacks, at times painfully so, but Jess’s cheerful optimism intertwined with her adorable musicianship can motivate anyone to improve. As she sings on the title track, “I know and you know / What the future holds / Bright prospects with muted undertones.” We can move forward, but it won’t always be towards sunshine and rainbows. Experience doefriends’ vulnerable, yet joyous, self-reflective journey over on Bandcamp.
Mk.gee – TWO STAR & THE DREAM POLICE
Genres: Alternative R&B, Hypnagogic Pop, Neo-Psychedelia
Favorite Tracks: “Are You Looking Up,” “Candy,” “I Want,” “Breakthespell”
Over the last year or so, an influx of off-kilter guitar pop artists with an electronic edge have emerged. The most prominent contender is ML Buch’s seraphic, dreamy jangle pop voyage on 2023’s SUNTUB, a trend that continued into 2024 with Astrid Sonne’s multi-instrumental GREAT DOUBT. Now, Los Angeles-based Michael Gordon, aka Mk.gee, enters this fray of pop rock reinvention with his latest record, TWO STAR & THE DREAM POLICE. The brief offering trims the cheesy fat off what makes ‘80s Phil Collins and Simply Red sound boisterous, leaving their embryonic fibers to valiantly breathe new life into subversive, sparse sophisti-pop.
Opener “New Low,” then, is a fake-out—Gordon’s display of his complex technical ability. An R&B song at its core, he chatters over a smooth soul groove as glitch, bass-heavy tones, and scattered amen breaks emerge. Only after it does the album permanently encase itself in a delicate, metallic timbre. “Are You Looking Up” is a harmonious, neo-psychedelic power ballad with crisp, chipper guitar riffs and ‘80s keyboards. Had it been released during sophisti-pop’s zenith without chipping and sibilant echoes, it certainly would’ve made waves. Gordon’s take is impressively futuristic like the work of Jai Paul. “Candy” is more of the same, but with glossy abrasion contorting the massive, crystalline pop rock riff.
The conclusive stretch seeps into meditative new age arrangements. “I Want” sees Gordon following Arthur Russell’s school of thought by playing an entrancing, percussive groove, only to erupt into a Jon and Vangelis piano and saxophone jive. The longest track at four minutes is “Breakthespell,” a slowed-down new wave comedown jam. Closer “Dream police” wouldn’t be out of place on The Police’s SYNCHRONICITY, being as warm and desertic as the English band’s own pensive “Tea in the Sahara” concluding said album—Gordon’s title reads as referential. From being an offshoot of Toro y Moi several years ago, Gordon’s newfound compositional maturity must be revered for curating an intelligent pool of inspirations. More importantly, he has forged a divine palette that is modern and ultimately idiosyncratic to him. Listen to Mk.gee’s superb TWO STAR & THE DREAM POLICE over on Bandcamp.
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