The D.C. punks return with a spiky, rhythmic groove.
Priests have never allowed themselves to be boxed into one sound. On their 2017 debut Nothing Feels Natural, the title track and “Suck” both had a bounce to their percussion that you could picture playing in a warped disco. For their return single, “The Seduction of Kansas,” the band is ready to dance, with a song that’s less abrasive but no less powerful.
Over a Blondie style rhythm, thin and sharp guitar notes stretch out into a spiny melody. Katie Alice Greer sings about the Sunflower State, alternating pop culture references with the slow crawl of political persuasion. In one line, she namedrops Superman and Dorothy. In the next, she sings, “It’s the last picture show, all the cowboys they get ready/For a drawn out charismatic parody of what a country thought it used to be.” This track may have a pop sheen, but don’t think for a second that Priests have lost any of their fire or unpredictability.
Priests’ sophomore record, The Seduction of Kansas, will arrive on April 5th via Sister Polygon Records.