Pre-order of Pass The Loofah. You get 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
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Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.
releases October 25, 2024
$7USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
The limited "Disco Ball" white splatter on metallic silver vinyl version of "Pass The Loofah" comes housed in a full-color jackets & includes a full-color insert.
Includes digital pre-order of Pass The Loofah.
You get 2 tracks now
(streaming via the free Bandcamp app
and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the
complete album the moment it’s released.
Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.
shipping out on or around October 25, 2024
Purchasable with gift card
$18USD
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
The black vinyl version of "Pass The Loofah" comes housed in a full-color LP jacket & includes a full-color insert!
Includes digital pre-order of Pass The Loofah.
You get 2 tracks now
(streaming via the free Bandcamp app
and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the
complete album the moment it’s released.
Subscribe
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Oakland’s Naked Roommate have been slinking around the Bay Area lighting up stages, shaking asses & confounding listeners since 2018, when the group - originally just the duo of real-life partners Andy Jordan & Amber Sermeno (both formerly of The World) - self-released a cassette of demos (2018’s “Naked Roommate”). Members Michael “Mig” Zamora & Alejandra Alcala (Blues Lawyer) joined soon after to augment the sound & live band with their proper full-length album “Do The Duvet”, co-released in September of 2020 via UK label Upset! The Rhythm & Trouble In Mind. 2024 finds the lineup expanded even further to incorporate the horn section of Geoff Saba & Jeanne Oss on tenor & alto saxophones as well as percussion & marimba as the band readies their sophomore effort, the dizzyingly ecstatic ”Pass The Loofah”
Recorded by members Andy Jordan & Mig Zamora from 2021-2023 as time & restrictions allowed, “Pass The Loofah” retains the wild energy of their debut, but leans into the rhythmic throbs perpetuated by forbears like Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Lizzy Mercier Descloux & ESG; the signature sound of UK’s On-U Sound & NYC’s 99 Records, but with a decidedly West Coast irreverence & a knack for absurdist exposition. Make no mistake, this is music designed to make your body MOVE & Naked Roommate won’t stop until they’ve made sure every ass is shook. The band freely incorporates elements of the dancier side of post-punk (think A Certain Ratio or Liquid Liquid) as well as disco, funk, & house music. However, the group’s uplifting melodicism belies a deeper subtext, understanding the importance of the sense of community of dance music & the culture surrounding it and leaning into a Neo-socialist lyrical context. Shit is fucked, & we get thru it by helping one another & acknowledging & addressing the failures of disaster Capitalism & tech-bro hegemony (a state the band is all-too familiar with, living in The Bay Area)
Take the first single “Bus”; a four-on-the-floor banger & salutary paeon to the ups & downs of the people’s transport that throbs & pulses with a late-night sashay (and a bridge that launches the tune into the stratosphere). Elsewhere, “Fight Flight”s funky horn stabs and Sermeno’s slinky vocals swoon over Numan-esque synth squiggles that are fortified & funkified toward the dance floor. “Broken Whisper” edges into new territory for the group, adding a Caribbean flavor a’la Kid Creole or The Specials that punctuates the persistent & synthetic beats underneath. Meanwhile instrumental interludes like “Ducky & Viv”, “G-Y pt. 1” & “G-Y pt. 2” oscillate into zones of sci-fi meets soap opera soundtracks, sounding not unlike the electronic experiments of UK industrial pioneers Chris & Cosey. Album closer “I Can’t Be Found” might be the album’s secret weapon; It’s swooning synth melody & processed vocals recall early Daft Punk or MGMT by way of Derrick Carter & The Au Pairs. It’s a beautiful song; perfect for the late night (or early morning) car ride home from the club.
credits
releases October 25, 2024
Recorded by Mig & Andy at Room 337 and The Grassy Null, Oakland 2021-23.
Additional overdubs recorded by Geoff Saba at Itinerant Home.
Mixed by Geoff Saba at Itinerant Home, 2023.
Mastered by Mikey Young
Photography by Malcolm Squire
Cover design & layout by Andy Jordan
Thanks to Trouble In Mind, The Grassy Null, our families, friends & supporters: we love you! In loving memory of Black Cat & Ducky.
Naked Roommate is:
Amber Sermeno - vocals
Andy Jordan - synths, beats, backing vocals, melodica, bass & lead vocals on “Successful Friend”
Mig Zamora - guitars, synths, beats, backing vocals, bass on “Fight Flight” & “Broken Whisper”
Alejandra Alcala - bass, backing vocals
Geoff Saba - tenor & alto sax, percussion, marimba
Jeanne Oss - tenor sax, backing vocals, diva Vox, percussion
with:
Alex Sperling - novation synth on “I Can’t Be Found”
Janoya - trumpet, synth on “G-Y” pts 1 & 2
Viv - vocals on “Ducky & Viv”
Katie - telephone speech on “Fight Flight”
Jasper Ewing brings all manner of electronic equipment to his bright, jittery songs, resulting in tiny, sparkling melodic wonders. Bandcamp New & Notable May 23, 2022
