Band To Know: Tentacle Boy - "Western Lullaby"

Download: Tentacle Boy - "Western Lullaby"


Recently featured on More Cowbell, Minneapolis-based duo Tentacle Boy is making waves with their two tracks featured on their MySpace page.

Adam To and Chris Sexton are reviving beats that sound like they’ve been neglected for years, left to rot in a 1980s time capsule. There’s something about their synth-sounds that echo the infectious "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer, (the theme to Beverly Hills Cop). New-fashioned little melodies meshed with pop-friendly techno: it’s familiar but far from boring. Tentacle Boy is a smidge reminiscent of popular indie-tronic bands like Octopus Project (weird similarity with their names, no?), but instead of having solid drumbeats and guitar riffs synching with Casio tones, Tentacle Boy sticks to the basics of slinky keyboard rhythms and likeable choruses. It’s simple, and it works.

"Western Lullaby" is like a funkier Postal Service tune, with To and Sexton’s vocals blending aesthetically together like a digital jigsaw puzzle, giving you the strange impression while listening that they may have recorded this underwater. It’s a really fun pairing of soft, lulling lyrics and hypnotizing little sonic blips.

Their page also features song and video for "Nobody,” the video bearing a slight resemblance to the Beastie Boys’ "Sabotage" video. Instead of cops running around raiding hotel rooms, these boys are criminals wielding kitchen knives and hurdling living room furniture. The song itself is a trippy mix of lyrical loops and digital percussion. Tentacle Boy is resurrecting sounds and images that feel like they’ve been long forgotten in a sea of acoustic indie-rock. They’re all about concocting danceable computer sounds. These guys are on to something, and I’m thinking a live show would be pretty damn fun.

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming dates. Listen to "Western Lullaby" at the top of the post, then head on over to the band's MySpace page to download "Nobody".

(Tara Rogan)