If you have yet to feast your imagination on the oddball odyssey that is Gator on Bike on Paper, the debut EP from enigmatic duo L Daddy and Magnus, aka Rare Demo, then it’s time to melt your synapses. Released back in December of 2018, the seven-song effort is a schizo mix of weirdo pop and scattershot electronica and R&B that twists and contorts itself into all manner of fascinating sounds and shapes. It’s a lot to take in, especially on first listen, but the more you allow yourself to absorb the group’s freakish emanations, the more their convoluted logic begins to unravel and make sense.
“Catpiss (The Club)” serves as the EP’s literal centerpiece, and intentional or not, it also serves a worthy bellwether for Rare Demo’s unconventional antics. Spend just a brief minute with the track and you’ll get a heavy taste of everything that makes the pair tick—off-kilter spazz-pop rhythms, frenetic beats, absurdist vocals that swing precariously from stream of consciousness ramblings to honest-to-god hooks. There’s nothing relaxed about what L Daddy and Magnus do, but neither does it feel entirely goofy or haphazard.
Created by Casey Doran, the accompanying video helps conceptualize the anomalous universe Rare Demo operate in. A seemingly omnipresent fixture on the Atlanta DIY scene, Doran’s photography and video work has always carried a surrealist bent while maintaining a raw intimacy with his subjects. “Catpiss” is no different, taking the viewer on a rambling lo-fi trip through drunken house show hijinks, spastic dancing, and wanton keyboard destruction.
Watch/listen above.
More Info
Bandcamp: raredemo.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @rare-demo-345540909569752/
Instagram: @raredemoband