For every bit of Do The Duvet, the debut album from Naked Roommate, that feels at all familiar, there's another bit that feels entirely fresh. And when I say "familiar" I mean for the people who actually remember Liquid Liquid or Delta 5 or Kleenex, bands Naked Roommate seem to have drawn inspiration from. And when I say "fresh", I intend to highlight just how refreshing it is to hear a band in 2020 that's even reaching back to those previously-mentioned bands for parts of their vision.
Opener "Mad Love" bubbles like some obscure import single you might have heard in 1981 while out on an NYC dance-floor, while the more direct "We are the Babies" is bouncier still, hints of Ladytron and Tom Tom Club jostling around each other over an infectious beat. The epic "Je Suis Le Bebe" is dance-able and complex, the rarest sort of track that sparks a head to nod, a foot to tap, and an ass to shake, with the person attached to those body-parts feeling intellectually stimulated at the very same time. Naked Roommate make this glide, and pulse, as does "Reproduce", another winner here.
So much of this first Naked Roommate record feels a bit out of place in a year with stay-at-home orders. I mean, this stuff was meant to be heard in a club, but, until that can happen, it's the soundtrack to a dance party in your head, or the fuel for memories of earlier eras where club workouts were transformative things. There's something liberating about how successfully Do The Duvet hits its groove, and one can sort of get lost in these hooks, and bop around the kitchen or something until the bars open up.
Do The Duvet is out on Friday via Trouble in Mind Records.
[Photo: Trouble in Mind Records]