- YACHT, the work of Jona Bechtolt (though Claire L. Evans has recently entered the fold as a worthy foil) emulates its namesake in that it's perpetually on the move. Previous YACHT outings have included puppet shows or else Bechtolt's lanky frame bedecked in Christmas lights as he warped beats on his computer, while the show I saw them do down at Austin, Texas's South by Southwest Music Festival was basically Bechtolt and Evans doing pogo-karaoke and scarcely touching the open laptop the entire time.
Now that DFA labelhead James Murphy is out gallivanting and bringing disco to the people via his Special Disco Version DJ tour with LCD Soundsystem drummer Pat Mahoney (and sipping Möet behind the decks), it's left to onetime tourmates YACHT (and recent DFA signing) to keep the label's twitchy and angsty edge alive. YACHT's debut EP shows the lo-fi hi-energy indie act's different facets.
"Summer Song"—despite its title—serves up far more menace and disquiet than one usually associates with sun-infused jams. The bassline and cowbell no doubt would make Murphy's head nod, while the sexless, tinfoil voices bandy about the field, chanting about "moving your feet to the summer song" and capturing that feeling when blood-alcohol levels and dancefloor dehydration combine, tipping from ecstasy towards toxic, the song ending in shattered glass. "I'm in Love With a Ripper (Party Mix)" shoehorns synthesized handclaps, digital rooster calls and quick keyboard zags before locking into a good groove and embellishing it with analog jitters and a Zapp-ed vocal line about said "ripper."
The side-long "It's Boring/ You Can Live Anywhere You Want" shows the band's punk roots as they muse on sallow hipster tastes and neighborhood-wrecking gentrification atop whiplash hi-hats and Steve Reich-like arpeggios delivered at sugary speeds. As they deadpan the mantra "You can live anywhere you want," it recalls the non-album LCD track "Yr City's a Sucker." Which is fitting, as both YACHT's Portland and LCD's Williamsburg both offer prime examples of hip artisan real estate and its pitfalls. If YACHT gets out from under LCD's skyscraper-high shadow, no doubt the duo will keep moving on up as well.
Tracklist A1 Summer Song
A2 I'm in Love With a Ripper (Party Mix)
B1 It's Boring / You Can Live Anywhere You Want