For some reason, many new tracks released this past week or so, seem to be throwing a HUGE middle finger to the homophobic establishment, but with a smile. The research for this round up was truly enjoyable. No, these are not the pop hits put out by the industrial music machines, but they’re offerings from varied individuals looking to educate us, entertain us, and move us in a not so cookie cutter way.
Lost Grrl Found – “Lesbian Spinsters”
From the new EP Pupal Phases
This one made us smirk the second it hit. Lost Grrl Found are two New York musicians who grew up on Bikini Kill, the Ramones, L7, and the Runaways, and it shows. The whole EP is pure short-and-sharp punk joy — most tracks clock in under two and a half minutes — while the lyrics take every tired politically correct lesbian cliché and stereotype from the last thirty years and throw them back with a grin. It’s catchy as hell, proudly queer, and completely unbothered by anyone who still clutches their pearls about two women existing loudly. If you need a good laugh while looking the world dead in the eye, start here.
John Roberts – “Complicated”
John Roberts (the voice of Linda Belcher on *Bob’s Burgers*, Emmy-nominated actor and comedian) just dropped a deliciously campy horror number that feels like a leather-clad gay disco fever dream crashed into a werewolf movie. The hat, the leather, the whole aesthetic screams industrial dance floors in Germany and Poland crossed with pure Halloween excess. It’s the kind of song that would have made even Freddie Mercury blush, and it somehow holds the whole twisted little story together without losing the groove. Queer camp done right, really, the leather hat of a Slovenian soldier, black leather, motorcycles, what more could you ask for?
Haute & Freddy – “In Your Eyes” / “Film Noir”
Queer-adjacent, beautifully weird, and always ready to celebrate the freak in all of us, Haute & Freddy hit us with a double this weekend. First is their cover of Peter Gabriel’s 1986 masterpiece “In Your Eyes.” I’m a lifelong Gabriel obsessive (I can still sing the German versions), and this version treats the original with real respect while still making it feel fresh. It carries the spirit of that song into a new generation without cheapening it. This song is in the Amazon Prime series Carrie, so, we know it’s going to go pretty far. I hope it moves your soul in a way reminiscent as the original in 1986. (For real, I was 12 when the original blessed my soul, this one is just as amazing 40 years later.)
Then they dropped “Film Noir,” a much darker turn. All the black-and-white German Expressionist imagery is there, but the color and uplift I’m used to from them is gone. This one looks inward — at the quiet places where love fails — and it doesn’t flinch.
“But in the corner of the room (what’s in the corner)
There’s a figure and he’s looking back at you”
Soft Cell – “Wave to America”
From the new album *Danceteria* (which, for the record, is some of the best work Soft Cell have ever done), “Wave to America” is a sly, affectionate, and deeply queer celebration of American excess. It name-checks everything from *Bewitched* (with its quietly queer undercurrents) to Evel Knievel and the leather biker scenes that always had more going on than the mainstream wanted to admit. The sarcasm and the knowing winks are pure Marc Almond. The album as a whole is essential. (They are also playing the Darker Waves festival November 14th)
Juanita and Juan – “Ellipsis”
Juanita and Juan (Kid Congo Powers and Alice Bag)
Punk rock royalty Kid Congo Powers (Gun Club, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Cramps, Pink Monkey Birds) and Alice Bag (The Bags) wrote this one together, and they describe it as calling out “the hollow promise of the American Dream.” Kid Congo has spent a lifetime writing about what happens when that dream doesn’t include people who are different — and how simply becoming visible can still shift something. This song sits right in that tradition: sharp, beautiful, and unapologetically on the side of the outsiders. I’ve had the honor of having Kid on the show before. The man is royalty, and this track proves it again.
These are the records that keep reminding me the world is still full of people who refuse to shrink. Play them loud.