Red Pants Not Quite There Yet

From Madison, Wisconsin, Red Pants are back with their new album Not Quite There Yet. Waves of static guitar sounds, spirited pattering of drums, pensive keyboard drones, and intimately whispered vocal melodies make up the noisy indie rock of Red Pants’ Not Quite There Yet. The music seems to fit perfectly into the visual world that exists around Red Pants: vibrantly colored nostalgia collages, pen and ink portraits showing domestic scenes, and slightly silly stop-motion videos. There’s a kind of homely wonder to the work that is then countered by a splash of color or a subject with two sets of eyes. Like the visual art, the music washes fuzzy guitar tones next to moments of sonic destruction and pairs it all with catchy pop murmurs. Red Pants are the duo Jason Lambeth and Elsa Nekola from Madison, Wisconsin. The two have been making music together for the last five years, with Elsa mostly on drums and Jason on mostly everything else. On Not Quite There Yet, nearly all of the songs are sung by Jason, but Elsa branches out to singing lead vocals and adds other instrumentation wit Jason’s noise pop arrangements.—Kevin Linn. Pressed on blue vinyl.