The Stepkids
Album | The Stepkids
Modernist psychedelic soul from Connecticut.
Stones Throw Records has always had an unapologetic retro edge, courtesy of label head Peanut Butter Wolf's eclectic tastes. This is, after all, the hip-hop label that released a remix set by jazzy Canadian sunshine popsters The Free Design. In a similarly psychedelic pop vein is the self-titled debut by Connecticut trio The Stepkids, who owe at least as much to The Free Design or The Association as they do Sly and the Family Stone or Rotary Connection. Recorded in a home-studio on an old-fashioned reel-to-reel machine, these songs have that thick, muddy sound that comes from repeated overdubbing, giving the album an authentically otherworldly, at times druggy vibe. The vintage synthesizer swirls and bleeps that decorate songs like "Shadows On Behalf" and the psychedelic soul ballad "Legend In My Own Mind" fit well with the Norman Whitfield-on-acid aesthetic, even if they're not exactly historically accurate. Not all of the songwriting is first-rate, but even the weaker tracks get by on their wicked-cool atmosphere, and the best are tremendous fun.
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