Rubber Band Gun Cashes Out

Kevin Basko released more albums in 2019 than most artists do in their entire career. The New Jersey indie rocker released handfuls of records in the first seven years under the moniker Rubber Band Gun--not to mention producing, engineering, and performing with everyone from Eric Slick to the Lemon Twigs. But when Basko’s friend and collaborator Jonathan Rado of Foxygen quipped that he should release 25 albums in a single year, the Rubber Band Gun 25 sprang to life. And at the heart of that diverse collection of records is Cashes Out, a record that not only stands as the first vinyl release for the project, but also showcases the dazzling and dizzying heights that Rubber Band Gun psych-tinged bedroom rock can reach. As many of the albums in Basko’s big year carried unified themes, Cashes Out was written with the express idea that it would be Basko’s big leap into the conventionality of the music business. That said, rather than streamline or simplify for that pop approach, the record retains the multiplicity of ideas and tones that run through the Rubber Band Gun catalog. After opening with introspective piano, “My Time” erupts in a spray of ‘70s neon and the album never looks back. That step out of time is particularly fitting, as holing up in his home studio of Historic New Jersey has meant that Basko’s music lives in its own context rather than any particular scene or trend. “I’m more of a fish out of water, but I’m creating my own scene that is without a true geographical home base,” he explains. “In some way, that makes me very Jersey-ish because I’m not giving up despite a lack of acceptance into a certain culture.”