The art and music of Jason Lambeth has been a constant presence in my life since I discovered his band Red Pants through their 2022 album When We Were Dancing, released via Bay Area DIY tape label Paisley Shirt Records. Working in collaboration with fellow Madison, Wisconsin resident Elsa Nekola, the duo have spent the last few years creating a sound world that is truly their own, pushing the DIY aesthetic to its outer limits with a soaring blend of drone, noise and pure melody.
With layers of guitars and psychedelic keys building a home for Lambeth’s softly sung vocals, and Nekola’s propulsive, urgent rhythms driving the music ever forward, Red Pants’ new album Not Quite There Yet is both their strongest work to date and first to be pressed to vinyl, thanks to their link up with the Madrid based label Meritorio Records.
Across Not Quite There Yet, Red Pants pull off that rarest of feats of sounding for the most part purely like themselves. Whilst echoes of the fuzzed out indie of the likes of Yo La Tengo and Stereolab still remain in places, Red Pants have filtered these influences into something completely fresh and totally now. To label this album as noise-rock is to do a disservice to the hope and light at the heart of its lyrics and melodies, whilst to call it indie-pop would undermine the grit and raw power that pulses through Lambeth’s heady guitar lines.
Highlights are plentiful, and each listen reveals new sonic treasures to lose yourself in. Watch The Sky contains some of Lambeth’s most emotionally charged playing to date, whilst album closer Quiet Eyes’ shifting dynamics shine a light on the truly unique synergy that exists between the two players. Nekola herself sings lead on the stirring Rockwell Kent, and this song is an absolute wonder. This tribute to the gifted American artist & voyager is centred around a hauntingly beautiful vocal that transcends into a soaring, shiver inducing chorus.
Not Quite There Yet is the most fully formed, immersive album that Red Pants have released to date. A wonderful collision of garage-psych urgency and pure pop flourishes that capture you from the very first listen, leaving lasting images and impressions that will keep you coming back again and again. An absolute triumph, and totally essential listening from two of the absolute best out there doing it.
Order via Meritorio Records here.
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