20 Minute Loop!

Alrighty friend-O’s: I mentioned somewhere down there that I was holding back the D/B music coverage because I hoped to launch with a piece about one of my absolute favorite local bands, 20 Minute Loop. Why? Because to me, 20 Minute Loop is the essence of Deplorable/Beautiful. The quintessence, even. Their sound is at once sublimely pretty and totally and completely fucked up. For example, check out the dichotomy going on in the track that originally did it for me, a song that would likely be #1 on my “Deplorable/Beautiful” playlist, “Jubilation” from 2001’s Decline of Day:


This is a song about “bloody steak knives” and “bunions, cut off the feet” that arrives at your ear drums on the wings of soaring, glorious, JUBILOUS two-part harmonies, and I ask you, what could possibly be more deplorable/beautiful? Seriously, if you have any thoughts on that, I’d love some comments.

Now then, 20ML have just put out their 4th album and let me be perfectly clear, it kicks a whole lot of arse. As each 20ML record has done before it, Famous People Mary Famous People dances that fine line between harmony and discord, splendor and squalor, glory and infamy. I could go on about this for ages, suffice it to say I think you should all click THIS LINK and buy yourself some 20ML records, immediately.

But wait, there’s more. In celebration of the new record’s long awaited debut, 20ML threw a party a couple Fridays ago at the best club in San Francisco, Bottom of the Hill, and I got to watch and film as they tore through the new songs. The video below captures not only the show opening, but some lovely post-set fashion modeling by singer/guitarist Greg Giles, a fascinating rumination on what it’s like to play live whilst pregnant by singer/keyboard player Kelly Atkins, and finally, a few comments on just how much the show sucked courtesy of bassist Adam Cunha.

.

Further 20ML Reading: Jeremy and I interviewed Greg, Kelly and Nils just before the release of their previous record, the equally and unnervingly awesome Yawn + House = Explosion for SF Station a couple years ago. The article is here, just don't ask me why those fuckers gave me such a puny, bottom-feeding byline.