A new label has emerged in Chicago called Lake Paradise Records, and with its formation, we have a contribution from long-time-in-the-making MINES, a project of infamous Chicagoan Bill Satek. The label released Just Another Thing That Got Ruined last week, and it comes with the ever-satisfying LP002 tag, as this full-length is only the second release from LPR. (The first was a J. Fernandez 7″.) There is a lengthy, involved interview with Satek, as well as the full album stream, at The Chicago Reader. But for a little taste, check out “Bad is the Old Better” below, and pick up the MINES album through LPR here.
The resounding quality of this track is that it covers so much space in such a short time. It's a nice, poppy 5 minutes long, but it starts with sounds of a bedroom recording that launch into mirrored piano-like movement and guitar clucking. The vocals are hidden, strained, and undefined, and at an early stage in the song, it feels like there might not be much movement—only tones and unsettling rhythms. Then, without precedent, the guitar jumps into a beach-heavy reggae line that feels mildly familiar, like one might have heard it while staying at an overpriced resort on a family trip in high school. It's a challenging listen, but a rewarding one—you never feel like it's exactly a pop song until it announces that it is.
