Recently I was able to get a hold of a brand new pop-duo called Yo Kinky to provide a track-by-track breakdown on their self-titled EP. Yo Kinky is a Queens, New York, post-pop duo that layers seductive patter lyrics over shimmering angular guitars and drum machines. Following the premiere of their first single on the Tower Records site in November and positive coverage from several outlets, Yo Kinky is already forging a name for themselves among the disillusioned and hopeful.
Tom Unish and Laura Wight met at the start of 2020, bonded over shared musical interests, and immediately started working together on songs. Over the course of the pandemic, they recorded and produced their self-titled debut EP out today. These songs touch upon themes such as truth, adaptability, love, and anticipation as Wight’s bright vocals are delivered with a conversational precision calling to mind acts like X, Sleaford Mods, and Blondie. I’d recommend checking out this artist if you’re a fan of similar acts such as Metric and Le Tigre.
Track-by-Track with Yo Kinky
- ”Wire” reminds me of my relationship with music. I approach my version of the art authentically and truthfully. If a song doesn’t write itself during that initial burst of when it’s first conceived, it’s a dud and I normally move on to something else. Wire also reminds me of new beginnings. As we improve, our past and future can seem black and white, connected only by a wire of the person we are today. So, living in the present moment is mega crucial.
- ”Someone” I Used to Know is partly about the psychic connection you feel with a new person you get along with right from the get-go. This type of heavy compatibility is super rare and always thrilling. Another part of the song includes my observation that some of the people who’ve meant the most to me have been record slinging purveyors of fun times, because I get to go to these small events, zone out, and feel bliss. Another part of the song is about being exposed to a lot at an early age. Ask any L.A. native: when you grow up in real Los Angeles, you’ve seen it all. And the desire for a better life is real.
- ”Lonely Love” is my ode to nightlife in a time of curfews and quarantine. As those moments can feel like being imprisoned, I visualized being among brooding jailbirds playing knucklebones for wrinkled cash as we wait around for our sentences to end. I was also happy to add the line ‘Might is right,’ from a Kleenex/Liliput song. That band has influenced me tremendously.
- ”Resistance” is about appreciating one’s free time and proximity to local day-to-day points of destination during a time of social restrictions. Tom and I really buckled down in March 2020 and spent the Spring doing the only activity we could see ourselves doing while facing what seemed like the actual end of the world. What’s the one thing I want to do before I die, I thought? Make this EP. And so we did.
- ”Stretch” is about life being a constant wild ride that gets more and more entertaining as it unfolds. From my reckless youth growing up in L.A., and the neighborhoods I’ve lived in on the west and east coast, to my times of immense growth living among the French in Paris as an adult, this song honors the growing and stretching we do to become the people we’re meant to be.