Let’s get something out of the way right off the top of this Milwaukee Music Premiere: “Parking Lot” from BLOOD has lyrics. Discerning what they actually are? Not important.
That’s not to minimize the writing effort longtime collaborators Nick Schubert and Nick Hoffmann put into this track from their upcoming EP, Closed Timelike Curves. It’s more to say that the message of “Parking Lot” runs throughout every aspect of the song. You experience this beautifully crafted three minutes of music and understand exactly what the two Nicks were trying to get across. Here’s how they summarized it for us:
The song grew out of a feeling that’s hard to describe but seems to hit harder as you get older: driving past a place that once felt like the center of your world and realizing it’s become something completely different. Maybe it’s an old hangout, a neighborhood you used to know by heart or even just a parking lot where countless memories were made. The place is still there, but it isn’t the same. Then comes the realization that neither are you.
That combination of nostalgic reflection and present-day realization is well-represent in the song itself, which starts with a dose of the former, courtesy of a spoken-word sample from a Wild West record they uncovered at a local Goodwill. It instantly transports you back decades before sonic distortion and a driving beat pull you forward in time just a little closer to the here and now.
“Parking Lot” never seems to let you get all the way there, though. Spread across the top layer of the track is an effect that feels anchored in an ’80s cassette tape pulled out of a box from the back of your childhood closet. It’s no accident, as the band told us they “became increasingly interested in digging through old cassette tapes and vinyl records, looking for forgotten sounds and snippets that could find a new life in the music.”
Like two Dr. Frankensteins, Schubert and Hoffmann sent jolts of electricity through these forgotten pieces of media to create something dark and foreboding. The rapid pace of the percussion, bass and synth feel less like a wistful look back at days gone by and more like the past is pursuing you relentlessly, refusing to let you rest. It’s a mood enhanced by the fact the vocals are atmospheric, first and foremost. But, in case you’re curious, here they are in full:
You’re so beautiful
I want you to know
Just fade into gray
There’s nowhere left to go
Water
Parking lot
What do I know now
Water
Parking lot
What do I know now
Hollow fading lights
There’s some left they say
And you’re so wonderful
Just looking through the haze
Into the perfect lines
Water
Parking lot
What do I know now
Water
Parking lot
What do I know now
There is beauty in darkness, and “Parking Lot” is today’s proof. You can hear it using the player at the top of the page, it’ll spin on 88Nine throughout the day (7:30 and 11:30 a.m.; 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.), and the track will find a home on BLOOD’s Closed Timelike Curves EP when it comes out Sept. 11.
The band also have a few live shows coming up this summer, including June 26 at X-Ray Arcade, Aug. 23 at Zoo A La Carte, a record-release party Sept. 11 at Cactus Club and back at X-Ray Arcade on Sept. 15.
