TOP NEW INDIE: JNTHN STEIN - MASTER CONTROL

JNTHN STEIN’S “Master Control,” featuring Barber, is a greasy, colorful electro garage funk banger, straight out of Brooklyn!

JNTHN STEIN - MASTER CONTROL

Let’s be honest - apart from a handful of innovators, guitar-driven rock ‘n roll is not the most vital or forward-looking of genres. For every St. Vincent or Sorority Noise molding and modulating the six strings to strange new shapes and tonalities, to tell intriguing new stories, you’ve got 100 The Black Keys just aping the past.

Playing blues-driven rock ‘n roll is not a revolutionary act, at this stage in the game. Blending scorching funk guitar with stomping hip-hop beats, silken r&b-tinged rapping, and cheezy 8-bit synths, however, can still be a revelation.

“MASTER CONTROL” featuring Bxrber, kicks off with Parliament-worthy funk guitar that would do Jimi Hendrix proud but would also not sound out of place on a Rage Against The Machine track. So far, so good; but “MASTER CONTROL” shows its true colors with a simple-but-deadly-effective hip-hop stomp, kicks and claps to kickstart the party. BXRBER’s rapping is beyond smooth and soulful, with some kind of Caribbean patois that gives a bit of a tropical swagger to the already almost-too-funky jams, and before you know it, you’re hooked! You’ll be running out to pick up some Sly & The Family Stone and Tower Of Power LPs before you know it.

We here at We Are: The Guard firmly believe in the powers of rock ‘n roll, to bring people together, to fight the status quo, to be wild and free, if only for a moment, in-between jobs, school, obligations. We must not just repeat the past, but we must engage with it, transforming it into something relevant for today, or else we’re doomed to repeat the sins of history.

“MASTER CONTROL” is an addictive slice of electro funk garage rock that will restore your faith in the past, while dragging it kicking and squalling into the present.

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.