Pink Skull "Zeppelin 3" (Free News Projects)
It's highly likely that Zeppelin 3 is crammed with inside jokes -- the "Philly scene" kind and the "DJ nerd" kind. Either way, I'm screwed, because the Delaware Valley and its beatmaker geeks are largely foreign notions to me these days. But I ain't dead yet. I may not have ever graced Space 1026 or kissed the Plastic Little's ass, but I know why Pink Skull doesn't totally piss me off: maestro Julian Grefe, a Pine Barrens boy (and member of the vastly underrated S PRCSS), isn't stupid *or* crazy. That is, as far as klepto-electro-funko-intellecto albums go, Zeppelin 3 is relatively gracious. Sure, the screaming chick in the middle of "Itchy Woman" is straight outta art school -- but I kinda like her. The throbbing tom-toms on "Unicorn Harpoon" are deliberately disorienting -- but I wouldn't call 'em balls-out "annoying," either. And the krautrock references on "Zing Zong" are somewhat obscure -- but anybody who'd like the Beta Band's The Three EPs might get down with the tune, too.
Ultimately, the disc takes a (conscious?) step back from the sometimes-apoplectic dance/noise of those nerds down the road in Baltimore. Where Dan Deacon might embrace the apeshit, Pink Skull senses that sometimes a house beat is just a house beat ("Cry For Meee") and chintzy '80s funk can be served with goober-free perspective ("Gonzo's Cointreau"). But that's not faint praise. There should only be one Dan Deacon, for cryin' out loud. And if Philly has any sort of broad regional mandate, it's "get your shit together, and really laugh at yourself once in awhile -- even if nobody hears it." In that aspect, Zeppelin 3 is air-damn-tight.
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