Kindergarten Prayers by Streaking in Tongues

Kindergarten Prayers by Streaking in Tongues

URL: http://www.streakingintongues.com/

One of the biggest issues that mainstream record consumers typically face when introduced to a defiantly avant-garde, openly experimental pop record is an aesthetical disconnection between the narrative of the artist and the experience and lifestyle of the consumers themselves. If art is essentially too artsy, it can become only relevant to other artists exclusively, leaving the audience mostly in the dark when it comes to trying to interpret and embrace their work. Streaking in Tongues is a rare example of a very, and I mean very artsy band that doesn’t have to put on a front or add a lot of bells and whistles to become accessible to mainstream listeners. Their music is detailed and sophisticated, but it’s also remarkably relatable and down to earth.

In their third album, Kindergarten Prayers, Streaking in Tongues dispatch a testament to their recording approach, and it ends up perhaps unintentionally being one of the most articulate albums of the latter half of the decade. Released last July and consistently gaining exposure through underground music channels in the month that has passed since, Kindergarten Prayers is, from where I sit, the indie record that lo-fi has been waiting for since Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains’ early stuff. It’s almost more high art than it is DIY, even though it is DIY in its most virginal, untainted form. From one song to next, it’s like we’re being sucked into a vortex of raw colors that are merging together to create something we’ve never seen before. It’s grainy in the most elegant way you can imagine.

Somewhere between “The Holy Spirit Comes at Recess” and “When it Comes to Dreaming,” I had an epiphany about where music is going in the 2020’s, and it has got a lot to do with the sound that Streaking in Tongues presents us with in this album. Thanks to the rise of interconnectivity via technology and social networking, human beings have never been in contact with each other as much as they are today, transcending race and geographical borders like none had ever imagined possible. Kindergarten Prayers is a melting pot of fundamental melodies, and it reminds me a lot of what our world is starting to look and feel like; a diverse collection of amazingly unique tones, each with something special to offer.

If you’re looking for a fresh new sound this summer, you really can’t go wrong with Streaking in Tongues. Not only is their music rebelliously different from anything you’re going to find on the FM dial, it’s stimulating on so many countless levels that you’re probably going to walk away from even a brief listening session feeling a little smarter than you did to begin with. Kindergarten Prayers is an album that relentlessly looks ahead into the future, and if you’re brave enough to face the unknown discord and joy that the 2020’s will inevitably hold, this record would be a mighty fine place to start. Indisputably, summer 2018 got a lot more exciting with this album’s arrival.

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/The-Boy-at-Gethsemane/dp/B07D1SR4L1

Mindy McCall