Yo Kinky

Queens-based indie rock duo Yo Kinky met at the beginning of 2020 quickly striking up a creative partnership. Laura Wight and Tom Unish worked together through the pandemic, self-producing and recording their upcoming debut self-titled EP. The band introduced their hypnotic indie rock style with two early singles, “Someone I Used to Know” and “Resistance.” Laying playful keyboard textures and reverb-soaked guitar lines over drum machine beats, there is an immediate allure to the stark instrumentation. The band have now returned with the final single from the EP, “Wire,” premiering with Under the Radar. “Wire” builds brilliantly from an opening syncopated drum machine to a full blast of instrumentation. As the bare drumbeat is joined by wiry guitar riffs, groovy bass, and finally, a swelling synths, the song subtly shifts, trading in the dark skeletal opening for a dramatic climax. Sharp instrumental hooks layer on top of each other, dropping in and out, all building in tense energy. The instrumentation imitates the drums’ syncopated beat until the final moments as the expansive synths blow the song’s tight rhythms wide open for a climactic final moment. Wight’s vocals have a similar progression, first matching the track’s seductive energy before rising to an earnest full-hearted conclusion. Wight of Yo Kinky shares of the song, “When I wrote this song I was experiencing some intense emotions sparked by a complicated relationship. At the time, I was also listening to the Back from the Grave compilations, so perhaps I picked up some of that garage punk attitude. Once I started working on it, the song just poured out, and I wrote and recorded the demo on my guitar in just a few minutes.” Unish continues, “When Laura played this song she’d recently recorded, I was really into the guitar part and vocal melody. I spent a lot of time reworking her drum tracks until we captured the groovy feel we were looking for. The song then really came together for me when I laid down the bass part and Roland 202. The arrangement pretty much happened during the mixing process, and it was a lot of fun figuring out when instruments would drop in and out. I had a blast mixing this one.” Check out the song below and preorder the Yo Kinky EP here, coming February 26. - Under The Radar

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Remember January 2020? It was a time of magic and optimism. It was an election year, and our Democratic contenders were such a supergroup that whoever we ended up with was going to win. The economy was looking up, the music industry was about to have a record year for live performances. That’s when Laura Wight and Tom Unish met at a rock club and started talking music. They connected pretty deeply and quickly started writing and recording together. Two months later, a global pandemic hits the US, and hits New York City particularly hard, where Wight & Unish live. So, what do you do? Do try to work remotely? Do you put everything on hold til it’s over? Or do you roll the dice on this relationship and move in with each other two months after meeting? Well, Laura & Tom decided to take the gamble, and Yo Kinky was born! We talked about these logistics, music, and a lot more. (YG even comes up!) Enjoy the episode and don’t forget to pick up their debut EP at yokinky.bandcamp.com!

Note: This is episode 1 of season 2, and I haven’t recorded one of these in a while. I made a few mistakes in terms of setting recording inputs, causing a handful of moments where the sound quality is less than great. I tried my best to reduce the noise, but I couldn’t do it. I decided that the content was good enough that you, the listener, won’t judge me too hastily here. Thank you for your support! - Spinning Platters