Combining funk and punk, D.C.'s Light Beams have been consistently one of the best live acts I've seen in this town in years. Of course, with a rhythm section of Arthur Noll (Bed Maker) on bass and Sam Lavine (Sensor Ghost) on drums, it makes sense that the band would get asses moving. But it's singer Justin Wm. Moyer who gets you to think. And shake your ass.
The band's back with a new single ahead of a November 3rd release on Dischord. While Wild Life will attempt to contain on vinyl the wildly energetic live Light Beams experience, I think the group's somehow broadened their sound. The addition of Leah Gage on vocals and rototoms and Erin McCarley on vocals, timbales, and samples is a step in a bold new direction. But have no fear because the same energy that made this outfit so captivating on earlier releases is still here.
"Coming Our Way" is the lead single. The song is about Moyer's experiences as a journlist covering the chaos of the last few years, from violence and COVID, to threats to our very way of democratic life from a guy who lost an election. The weight of the accumulated horrors, along with his own daughter's horrific experience in a school shooting in D.C. combine to propel Moyer forward. The video captures a bit of the live Light Beams show, with each player here pushing this into the stratosphere. It's the rarest sort of song that works on both emotional and intellectual levels.
Dig it!
Wild Life by Light Beams is out on November 3 on Dischord.
[Photo: Leah Gage]