Monofonus Press

The Works

Pillow Queens on the Austinist

Austin’s Monofonus Press brings together artists, writers, and musicians to collaborate on synchronized distribution. Their latest effort combines artist and writer with one of our favorite local bands, the Pillow Queens. Tonight marks the celebration of their CD release at the Compound, where attendees can also check out Shapes Have Fangs and Human Milk.

Kookoolegit is a slippery little record. There are strains of ’70s new wave festering at the surface, but the dark humor, loose arrangements and passionate irony belong safe in the 21st century. There’s no shortage of jangly indie pop melody, and Carolyn Cunningham’s retro-punk drumming style adds enough bang to make each and every tune its own little gem. The rhythm section, completed by Eric Loftis (also of Corto Maltese, only behind a drum kit) on bass, lives up to the challenge of supporting two frenetic guitarists with their eyes on experimentation and noise. Influence-wise, we’d be really surprised if vocalist/guitarists Will Slack and Duncan Malashock hadn’t heard a lot of Verlaine & Lloyd, but there’s more than angular and wiry guitars happening here. They draw on the appeal of bands like the Velvet Underground, the Soft Boys and yes, Television with ease, demonstrating that there’s a lot of useful space in between polished rock’n'roll and experimental instrumentation. Pillow Queens operate in this middle area quite nicely, bridging the gap between some of punk’s most influential beginnings and the modern world’s demands. There’s a sort of lovable sloppiness to their sound, adding a generous amount of authenticity and appeal to songs that might not be instant classics, but undoubtedly deserve your attention. It will be really fun to see this band grow.

On Saturday, you can catch the compliment to this Monofonus Press release at Cafe Mundi, where Karen Davidson will read from her book, Clear Violet. The short story is augmented with the art of up and coming artist Michelle Devereux. Davidson, a MFA-holding graduate of UT’s Michener Center for Writers, is also a screenwriter, focusing on the voices and personas of east Texas. She’s worked on several short films, produced two documentaries, and was a finalist at the IFP Market in New York.

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