Tuesday 2/23: Silicone Prairie—"Dance to the Beat"
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song from the Kansas City synth-punk band Silicone Prairie.
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him) and Eric Bennett (they/them). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. Now we’re, also a M-F newsletter about songs. Our format is simple: a link to a song and a short take from each of us about what we think of it. Each day of the week has a corresponding genre: Monday is indie, Tuesday is punk, Wednesday is hip-hop, Thursday is pop, and Friday is misc. Three days of the week are free but you can get access to all five weekly posts by subscribing for $5/month via Substack or $2/month via our Patreon.
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song from the Kansas City synth-punk band Silicone Prairie.
Silicone Prairie—"Dance to the Beat"
Eli Enis:
This is like the Talking Heads crossed with The Stooges and recorded on a boombox. The whole track reminds me of an era when computers had those grey, bulgy, plastic shells, and the general ~vibe~ conjures the feeling of future archaeologists uncovering a tomb of dusty PC equipment from the ‘90s and booting it all up for a Dial-up bonanza. The song is from the new album from Kansas City’s Silicone Prairie, titled My Life on the Silicone Prairie, and there’s plenty more of this type of thing on there to go around.
Eric Bennett:
From the second I put this track on, I knew I was not going to be able to guess what turns it would take. A near 30 seconds of an eerie, building pulse of sci-fi instrumentation ending abruptly and revealing jangly Dead Kennedys-esque punk? Yeah, you wouldn't guess that either. While I wish those artificial, shiny flourishes were more frequent once we land, I can't say I have many complaints with the track. The writhing nature of its tempo and its hectic, near-unintelligible vocals make for a compelling dynamic. It’s called “Dance to the Beat,” and while I'm certainly too awkward and hyper self-aware to ever find myself able to do that here, I think this song is a jam, and one that would feel great to lose yourself in.