It’s difficult to imagine anything even remotely synth-related when talking about Savannah sludge rockers Baroness. But here we are talking about the new electronic project from ex-Baroness drummer Allen Blickle. After Baroness’ tragic bus crash last summer, and having suffered apparent physical and psychological trauma in the accident, he decided that it was time that he stepped away from the band. After saying goodbye to his bandmates, Blickle got together with his ex-step brother Justin Nuckols, and the two men threw their not inconsiderable musical weight into their debut record, Demimonde, under the electronic moniker Alpaca, which is due out October 1st via Robotic Empire.
They’ve recorded recent remixes for bands like A Place To Bury Strangers, Surfer Blood, and Eternal Summers, and so Blickle and Nuckols aren’t exactly strangers to genre-jumping. And the latest single from the band comes in the form of “Republic,” a dense, electronic chug that melds the duo’s penchant for malleable rock melodies with a stylish, synth-pop atmosphere. Bringing aboard Stockholm-born singer Halina Larsson, they work her confident vocals into the decidedly synthetic mix and create a vibrant landscape of head-nodding beats, hook-y melodies, and elastic synths. Listen to Republic” below.
