Despite the telling title of their sophomore studio record, Polycat haven’t always been about creating the throwback sounds that hark back to the 1980s. Formerly called Ska Rangers, they started off as a ska cover band doing gigs in and around their stamping ground of Chiang Mai.
Polycat/ 80 Kisses
But as luck would have it, the boys were cast to appear as a wedding band in 2011’s The Hangover Part II, an act that would later inspire them to start working on their own material. After signing with Bangkok-based label Smallroom, Polycat went on to release their debut album 05:57 in 2012. It’s largely a synth-pop record built upon elements of reggae and ska (usually via trumpet and saxophone) — something we don’t get to hear very often by a Thai band.
It wasn’t until last year’s release of the group’s mini album The Ordinary Love Story and a line-up change that Polycat began to move away from their reggae and ska roots to fully embrace ’80s vintage sounds. Their three next singles, Pob Kan Mai? (So Long), Wayla Thur Yim (You Had Me At Hello) and Puen Mai Jing (Forever Mate), fittingly came with visuals from the 1989 classic Thai film Prik Khee Noo Kub Moo Ham, starring Janjira “Took” Joojang and Kajornsak “John” Rattananisai. The songs, along with their accompanying music videos, proved successful, having altogether racked up close to 30 millions views on YouTube.
And it’s this very sense of nostalgia that permeates throughout the band’s latest output, 80 Kisses. The 12-track record contains the above three songs (each comes with its own “extended version”) as well as the terrific single Mun Pen Krai (Alright) which vaguely recalls Michael Jackson’s 1988 classic Man in the Mirror. “You don’t deserve to be let down, alright?/I’ll hunt down whoever did you wrong,” goes the chorus. “Then I’ll tell them you’re their one and only/I’ll tell them to give you a reassuring hug/You know, all the things that I can’t do.”
Apart from the retro-inspired production, anticlimactic lyrics also set Polycat apart from their peers. “Your eyes, they’re so gorgeous, especially when you say his name/I almost forgot to be jealous” goes another line on Puen Pra-ek (Goodfella).
The rest of the album doesn’t stray too far away from the late ’80s-early ’90s-indebted sounds, either. Pak Dee and Pen Prao Fon are reminiscent of Janet Jackson’s iconic Rhythm Nation 1814, whereas Sing and Puen sound like they could have been released alongside New Order’s mid-career Republic. As a whole, 80 Kisses should appeal to a broad range of audiences, from those who grew up in the pre-internet era to smartphone addicts.
THE PLAYLIST
Jenny & The Scallywags/ Sounds Like Maybe
Fronted by guitar-toting Jennifer Lackgren, Jenny & The Scallywags is a rising folk-pop sextet you should definitely get acquainted with. The group, fresh from winning first place at MTV’s Project Aloft Star Amplified last year, has recently dropped a four-track debut EP on which appears excellent lead single, Sounds Like Maybe. As with any good folk-pop ditties, the song is built on a breezy production and a message that deals with some sort of personal conflict (“The world said it never mattered, you swore it doesn’t matter/I must be crazy/To think that I ever mattered, I guess I never mattered”).
Gold Panda/ Time Eater
It’s no secret Derwin Schlecker, aka Gold Panda, has a penchant for incorporating Oriental sounds into his work. His latest offering, Time Eater, starts off with the spiritual calmness of a Zen temple. Then, after a minute in, it’s joined by synthesised drums which drive the song forward, like a bullet train whirring past lushly textured landscapes. Schlecker somehow manages to blend atmospheric tranquillity with an underlying sense of melancholy in a subtle, yet masterful way. Listening to this is almost akin to having a lovely picnic in Japan’s suicide forest.
Julian Casablancas/ Run Run Run
After dividing fans’ opinions with his experimental side project Julian Casablancas and the Voidz, The Strokes vocalist Julian Casablancas has returned to gives us a cover version of The Velvet Underground’s 1967 classic Run Run Run. Here, Casablancas does a great job in staying strictly faithful to the original and we have to say it’s a wise decision on his part. The song, together with contributions from Otis Redding and New York Dolls’ David Johansen, arrive as part of the soundtrack for Vinyl, the new Martin Scorsese HBO series chronicling the music business in the early ’70s New York.
Richard Ashcroft/ This Is How It Feels
The former frontman of one of the most iconic ’90s Brit rock bands is back after six years away from the studio with a new single, This Is How It Feels. Lifted from his forthcoming album These People, the low-key number finds Ashcroft alluding to heroin use, crooning “She went down straight through my veins/Now I’m back home again/I’ve been waiting for the sun to come again.” Synths and strings also make a welcome appearance here — the latter courtesy of Wil Malone, the producer who worked on The Verve’s Urban Hymns and Northern Soul as well as Ashcroft’s solo debut Alone With Everybody.
Julianna Barwick/ Nebula
If there’s one word that succinctly describes the kind of music crafted by American ambient folk singer Julianna Barwick, it is this: otherworldly. On Nebula, the lead single taken from her upcoming fourth studio record, Barwick prepares us for a lift-off into the cosmos and leaves us floating adrift in the void surrounded by ample looped synths and spellbinding vocals. Equally magical and haunting, this track is nothing but the embodiment of otherworldliness.
