Here’s one for those who like computer-generated, syrupy, ultra-packaged songs that mock convention: Wallpaper, a new pop satire EP by a Pinole-based indie singer of the same name. Consisting of six songs that all end at exactly two minutes and thirty seconds – some are even awkwardly cut off, the singer says — Wallpaper takes the idea of radio-formatted music in a funky (or decidedly unfunky) direction.
The singer used the Autotune software favored by most pop stars who want their voices to stay on key, but turned it up as high as he possibly could – “so it’s impossible for me to sing a wrong note, basically,” he says. He also waxes bizarre with overly flat, megageneralized, Dick-and-Jane-style lyrics (Sample: I love a girl / She is a black girl / Or she is white). “I just took all these things that people are doing on pop records and blew them out of proportion,” says Wallpaper, who dropping his next single “A Million Dollars” on February 18. “I was trying to think of the most ubiquitous American fantasy,” he explains. “Like, when you get three wishes from the Genie, what do you wish for? A million dollars. Not even one million dollars. A million dollars.” Click here to hear Wallpaper streaming live. Wallpaper opens for Subtle January, 20 at Bottom of the Hill — Rachel Swan
