While Washington D.C. band Priests released “Nothing Feels Natural” just one week after this year’s presidential inauguration, it might’ve only been happenstance. The punk quartet had been working on their debut album years before the election.
Through percussive exhilaration, jazz intonations, and singer Katie Alice Greer’s snarling vocals, “Nothing Feels Natural” feels like a confident cathartic release that maintains its energy from start to finish.
When first hearing “JJ,” the third track on the action-vibrant album, it reminded me of jangle pop, post-punk band Pylon, as Greer pumps out powerful, raspy lyrics over textures of quick barroom piano and fast-paced, late 50’s rock n’ roll guitar.
Throughout its punch-packing vigor, the lucid record makes natural musical shifts while drawing a somewhat satirical critique on consumerism in the United States. The band’s critique delivers a poised message against the oppressiveness that has become a normalcy in American culture by way of tracks like “Pink White House,” a feminist parody of the dehumanizing “American dream.”
If you’re in search of a tasteful contemporary combination of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, and the Clash, look no further than Priests. Listen to songs from “Nothing Feels Natural” on 91.5 WGRE.
WGRE’s Top 15:
- JJ -- Priests
- Name For You -- The Shins
- Humble -- Kendrick Lamar
- Blood On Me -- Sampha
- Leaving LA -- Father John Misty
- Keep Your Name -- Dirty Projectors
- If You Need To, Keep Time On Me -- Fleet Foxes
- Passionfruit -- Drake
- Bus In These Streets -- Thundercat
- On + Off -- Maggie Rogers
- Pink Up -- Spoon
- Goalkeeper -- Animal Collective
- Haunt Me -- KOLARS
- I Give You Power -- Arcade Fire
- The Heart Part 4 -- Kendrick Lamar