Hey, kids. Do you wanna hear a story? Gather around, and let lil’ ol’ Lee cast you back a year or three, to a lavender Saturday evening during AthFest 2015. Storms had ravaged the Caledonia Lounge just a few hours before, and I hadn’t even planned on peeking out again. You are so done with rock bands today, I said to myself on the way out, after the afternoon’s set wore thin. But as the clouds cleared off, and the Saturday night itch settled in, I couldn’t help myself. Might as well make the most of this press pass from Flagpole, anyway.

After some casual note-jotting at Jittery Joe’s, I jostle back down to Caledonia. An unfamiliar assemblage of dudes has gathered on the stage—they’ve got guitar, drums, bass, synth, and OH MAH GAWD THAT GUY HAS A KEYTAR. I am so ready for this, I tell the young lady next to me. Sure enough, my wildest hunches are confirmed: “Get this rock music off!” the guitarist yells. “We ‘bout to fill this place with FUNK!”

Ladies and gents and otherwise, then the funk begins, and Lee Adcock does not remember anything beyond the fact that they were groovin’, and she was movin’. I couldn’t tell you if “Girls Who Abuse” graced this set or not, but whatever did sounded more or less like that—synth licks like pearly white grins, shameless glitter and cheese and bubblegum disco. I am not thinking at all. There is nothing in my head beyond the beat. People in the front make way for my approach. A corner of my consciousness registered chit-chat behind me: “I’ll take my cues from her!” and “She’s good!” Out of nowhere, the frontman tosses his hat toward me; how I even catch this in my possessed state, I don’t even know.

Finally, the bringers of the funk fall silent. I grab up the guitarist’s cap (which I tossed to the floor, I reckon? I’m going off my notes here) and, as I hand it back to the guy himself, I ask hungrily for the band’s name. I mean, yeah, I was a “journalist” and I’d need it for my recap later, but also you can’t just dance yr ass off like that and not ask for the band’s name. Duh. “We are Velveteen Pink,” he says. Noted, I assure him.

And that memory, my friends, is why we’re here today, with “Girls Who Abuse,” and the very same, brazenly cheesy pearl funk that compelled me to wow the crowd. Cos here’s the kicker, kiddos: I can’t turn that on unless the band turn this on, and Velveteen Pink were switched all the way on that night. And I’m relieved to see in this video that, three years later, they can still kick out the jams at full tilt.

Watch/listen above.

Velveteen Pink’s self-titled debut is out Feb. 14 via Laser Brains.

Velveteen Pink will celebrate the release of their self-titled debut on Wed., Feb. 14 at the Georgia Theatre alongside Booty Boyz and Powerkompany. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $10. 18+ to enter.

More Info
Bandcamp: velveteenpink.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @VelveteenPink
Instagram: @velveteenpink
SoundCloud: @velveteen-pink