Rubber Band Gun (the project of producer, engineer, and multi-talented performer, Kevin Basko) might be to pardon the bad name pun- the most elastic band this side of Tame Impala. Stretching and experimenting within it close to 30 minute LP, Cashes Out (via Earth Libraries), Rubber Band Gun nabs scrollers with its contagious mix of beat-driven melodies, atmospheric heights, and all-around whimsicality. Backed by my members of Foxygen, The Lemon Twigs, and Jackie Cohen, Cashes out quite is like the lost Todd Rundgren album from 1974 or maybe the second coming of Sparks? Either way you can hear the seductive ’70s influences. Glide is premiering the full album video-premiere (below) made by Basko, that covers the gamuts the Rubber Band Gun creative process.
“From the start of recording Cashes Out, I wanted a unique visual talent to accompany the sounds we were making,” said Basko. “Ben Montez has an incredible eye and ear for collaboration and he really brought the Vegas dream to life. With a combination of found stock footage, intimate practical shots, and absurd animation, he has built a neon world and story around the themes and characters explored in this record. Each song/video can live in its own world and feel coherent on its own, but when played together as a whole, Ben has created a film that pushes those boundaries and shows the viewer a side of RBG that they’ve never seen before. “
As many of the albums in Basko’s big year carried unified themes, Cashes Out was written with the express idea that it would be Basko’s big leap into the conventionality of the music business. That said, rather than streamline or simplify for that pop approach, the record retains the multiplicity of ideas and tones that run through the Rubber Band Gun catalog. After opening with introspective piano, “My Time” erupts in a spray of ‘70s neon and the album never looks back.
That step out of time is particularly fitting, as holing up in his home studio of Historic New Jersey has meant that Basko’s music lives in its own context rather than any particular scene or trend. “I’m more of a fish out of water, but I’m creating my own scene that is without a true geographical home base,” he explains. “In some way, that makes me very Jersey-ish because I’m not giving up despite a lack of acceptance into a certain culture.”
