The first song on Storefront Church’s new album is called “Sydney Sweeney.” I’m somewhat morbidly curious to find out what’s going on with that. I’ll have to wait; Blue Movie, the follow-up to 2024’s Ink & Oil (and last month’s Woah Yeah EP) is not out until September. In the meantime Lukas Frank has given us advance singles “Still Lying” and “Witness Protection,” and today, along with the album announcement, he’s added a third in “Tendency For Violence.”
Frank offered this statement about the new LP:
If there’s a through line with my records it’s that they all somehow relate to movies. If my last record was extravagant and aspirational, this new one is cheap and seedy. Ink & Oil was made in earnest in studios with live strings and friends; Blue Movie was birthed alone in a windowless shed with fake instruments and synths; my worst impulses on display. It aspires towards cinema in the same way that The Tiki, LA’s last porn theatre does.
These new tracks have presented Frank’s warped take on goth and new wave, as triangulated by pre-rollout covers of Sisters Of Mercy, Charli XCX, and Leonard Cohen. “Tendency For Violence” is the best of the bunch so far, casting Frank’s haunted bellow against smeared synths, elegant piano, and a whomping backbeat. The chord progression on the chorus reminds me of “Sledgehammer,” and indeed, this would fit right in alongside the weirdo pop excursions of Peter Gabriel or Talking Heads. “I know a way to the makeout station,” he sings. “Gotta get a lil’ high.”
Hear “Tendency For Violence” and the prior singles below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Sydney Sweeney”
02 “Still Lying”
03 “Tendency For Violence”
04 “Seafood Shanty”
05 “Heaven Or Los Angeles”
06 “Pictures Of Her Debit Card”
07 “Fatal Attraction
08 “Witness Protection”
09 “Alive Again”
10 “Wilhemina”
11 “Nosebleed”
12 “Brown Out”
Blue Movie is out 9/18 via High Room. Pre-order it here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stereogum.com ’
