The Cool stuff for July 2023 is going to be a little different, and I’m happy to say I never planned it this way. For all my best planning, the natural course of the universe got us exactly here. So, let’s find out where exactly here is.
This is Cool Stuff For Cool Lifeforms: July 2023.
A year ago, the very first edition of Cool Stuff for Cool Lifeforms dropped. I had been tweeting about bands and shows I liked on my band’s Twitter account for a while when a thought began to formulate in my mind. I thought that perhaps it would be more impactful if I shared these recommendations on the website where I used to write — the website owned by the bassist in my band and run in part by my good friend Coop. And then a second, more devious and brilliant thought formulated in my mind. I thought I could use that very first edition to connect with a band I had just gotten into and maybe, just maybe, convince them to do a split with my band.
And it worked.
That band was Cool Sorcery, whose name probably influenced the name of this column on a subconscious level. I suppose I’ll never truly know. The thought only occurred to me now. The album I recommended was With Love, Maggie, an absolute banger of fuzzy garage rock weirdness.
It was the first item I recommended in that column, and I ended the rec by saying, “I’m hoping that the more I talk about Cool Sorcery, the more likely it is they’ll do a split with my band. Call me if you’re reading this.”
The moment the column went up, I tweeted from my band’s account:
And Marcos from Cool Sorcery replied:
And we were in.
It wasn’t until January after our first LP dropped that I would follow up with him to see if he was actually interested for real or if that was just Twitter band flirting, but Marcos is perhaps the nicest and most enthusiastic artist I have ever known. He was instantly excited to work with us. He loved figuring out a concept, what the style would be, everything.
I have never in my life had such a wonderful experience in such a random way, and I have this column and this site to thank.
As if by some magic by the art gods, that means I have two albums to recommend this month. It feels like serendipity, and you’ll see why when I recommend them.
Released THIS month, GOD INSIDE A HUMAN MACHINE is the split I spoke of above. I’m calling it dance punk when I describe it to people because that’s what vibe it’s going to hit for you, but it covers all sorts of genres from garage to post-hardcore to post-punk to indie to electronic to acid to the indescribable. I’ve already talked about the damn thing too much.
The recommendation that started it all just got even better! Marcos from Cool Sorcery remixed and even completely redid some of these tracks and just dropped this new version LAST MONTH. How full circle is that? If you didn’t check this out a year ago, check it out now. And if you did check it out a year ago, fucking check it out now. It sounds amazing, and now is the time to get into this band. They’re only going to get better, so you want to say you knew about them back when.
I mean, come on… I planned this, but I couldn’t have planned this.
Listen to Cool Sorcery/da.daer playlist featuring both sides of the split, here.
For more information on Cool Sorcery/da.daer, check out Crushed Monocle Podcast – Episode 26
If you’re a cool lifeform who enjoyed the cool stuff of July 2023, please consider previous installments here.
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