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Through a cacophony of sonic madness, The Fatty Acids mix indie pop maximalism with a DIY sheen on their new track “Radio Waves.”
Formed in 2008 within a “dingy basement in Riverwest,” the band has stayed busy since then. With four records under their belt on top of national tours that saw them opening for the likes of The Flaming Lips and Weird Al, the group could have been resting on their laurels with ease. However, it’s clear their creative spark and personal nerdiness won’t let them just sit around and reminisce; these are artists who love the craft.
That passion can be heard clearly in “Radio Waves,” a song centered around Carl Sagan’s thoughts on how all of humanity’s propaganda, commercials and bad pop music have been traveling through space since the 20th century. It’s a stark realization that creates an almost uneasy feeling in the idea that, no matter what, something could be listening to everything we have to say.
Blatant communication lives at the core of the song — this idea that our brains are like radio waves, dispersing information at mach speed out into the “stars” of other people’s heads:
A big thanks to radio waves
For making it possible to pray
A big thanks to everything else
For burrowing us into hell
Through a chaotic and industrial opening, the song glimmers with a melody that centers the listener into a dream-pop sequence. It’s in this glitchy state that the band show off their expertise built over a nearly two-decade career. Sonically, this tune feels like it sits in two places at once, but The Fatty Acids find balance within paradox:
And I can’t say I don’t believe
When it’s the clearest thing I’ve seen
When it’s the clearest thing I’ve seen
And god damn the gap that’s between
What really matters and what we
Spend most our days contemplating
All the sampling, electronic elements and hand-played instruments blend into a grandiose mix that was expertly produced by Josh Evert of Silver City Studios, who’s quickly becoming a big-time producer for bands from the 414 like Fellow Kinsman, Maximiano and Caley Conway.
Silver City is a new home for Milwaukee bands to take their music to a higher level. There’s an edge to basement records that’s very enjoyable, but for a band to take that foundation and enhance it to a greater point is arguably a good artistic step. It’s about perspective, and “Radio Waves” shows off that both Evert and The Fatty Acids have a great one:
Dissolving in cartoon stomachs
What we know of stars is inferred
What I know of you is these words
And I can’t say I don’t believe
When it’s the clearest thing that I’ve seen
The song coalesces into a fuzzy drawn-out point that buzzes into the mind. Listening to this track doesn’t feel like the most serious thing one can do, but there are glimpses of a greater unknown through its enigmatic glitch fog — something so absurd that all we can do is try to laugh at it. Maybe there’s not much we really understand about the universe, but we can take solace in knowing ourselves.
Get to know the “Radio Waves” by using the player at the top of the page or catching it on 88Nine throughout today (6:30 and 10:30 a.m.; 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.). And if you like what you hear, see the band live for a double-header at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn on Sept. 18 and 19, with Evert, Mol Sullivan, Dogs in Ecstasy, Mortgage Freeman and Sat. Night Duets performing.
Jonathan Joseph is a Milwaukee-based multimedia journalist who specializes in art and culture writing (and all things Milwaukee), with work appearing on Radio Milwaukee and in Milwaukee Magazine. Contact him via email or find him on LinkedIn.