Modern Skirts: Gramahawk

Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste
It’s tough to say whether they were driven to madness by one too many Ben Folds comparisons or performed some musical voodoo ritual during the four weeks they spent recording in New Orleans, but former piano-poppers Modern Skirts emerge on Gramahawk a changed band. The giddy hooks, of which the Skirts seem to have no shortage, remain intact, but for this effort, the quartet wisely mined the bizzaro bedroom recordings of lead singer Jay Gulley. The result is a lo-fi, synthy romp through DUIs (“DUI”), a love song for an ‘80s one-hit wonder (“Jane Child”) and some kind of psychedelic Renaissance fair soundtrack (“To Be a Branch Davidian”) that, even when it nudges into overwrought territory, is just absurdly fun.