Album Of The Week: Mild High Club’s Skiptracing

There’s always a time for mellow, relaxing tunes. I’m not talking about soft rock or any bubblegum crap. I’m talking about jazzy melodies and a cool bass line anchoring a track. By melding surf, pop, jazz and good ol’ fashioned psychedelia, groove freaks Mild High Club bring a laid-back vibe with their album Skiptracing that’s due out on August 26. The act that calls both Chicago and Los Angeles home exudes the essence of The Flaming Lips and Animal Collective while staying true to their own sound by mixing things up with each track. It makes for an enjoyable listening experience that’ll put listeners in a trance.

Skiptracing is like a sonic sunset coming down as you’re driving down a boulevard in a ’70s convertible. To put that in a musical sense, it’s got some funk but it mostly shares the same base as lounge jazz. The only difference is that all the tones are low; there’s not a huge progression in rhythm but that’s fine. Mild High Club’s new record isn’t meant for the mosh pits of the world, it’s meant for the loveseats and back porches. It’s got chill written all over it.

It’s strange for me to write about an album that doesn’t have any distortion, any epic guitar solos or even a horn section, but the new album from Mild High Club just oozes coolness. Not everything cool has to be intense and this is coming from a guy who spends his mornings downing a pot of coffee. Let’s get buzzed and take a sip off of my top tracks of the Album Of The Week:

Sounding like something straight out of a couple’s bedroom decades ago, “Tesselation” is sexy as hell. The bass resonates classic Hall & Oates while the guitar brings a simple dimension with its solos. “Homage” makes me think of Jeff Lynne from Electric Light Orchestra in the middle of an acid trip. It has this weird orchestral structure with a slightly fuzzy sound. The keys that kick off “Chapel Perilous” are dreamy as well.

Mild High Club will celebrate the release of Skiptracing at The Chapel in San Francisco on August 26 and they’ll embark on a tour of North America and Europe the following night starting at Cooper’s Aleworks in Nevada City, California. New Englanders can check this interesting act out at The Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September 28. When Mild High Club puts out their new album next month you better get it. It’s going to get you above the clouds and you’ll never want to come back down.

Stream “Homage” via Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/stonesthrow/mild-high-club-homage; Follow Mild High Club on Tumblr: themildhighclub.tumblr.com