Coin Locker Kid beats his own drum and no matter how masturbatory or ascetic the results, he is without analogy. In March he released the conceptual opus Hailstorm & Maelstrom on Already Dead Tapes, which is described as “a story of a boy who disappears into a beautiful woman” and makes no qualms in the Jungian implications or solipsism within. Hell, he tagged those words on his Bandcamp as though his true listeners will be a demographic that actively seek psychoanalysis and self-godliness on the Internet. Next month Coin Locker Kid is releasing Empathica, his next experimental collection destined for obscurity.
Never short on awareness, “Change your hair change your life” finds Coin Locker Kid addressing his obscure existence with “I have a fear my world is getting rid of me.” He’s also not short on resilience and resourcefulness. Much of Empathica is recorded in collaboration with Idaho experimental pop girl-wonder Ballerine Nadiya. Her contribution to “Change your hair change your life” is mired in the noise bursts of the chorus, but it remains clear that Coin Locker Kid’s direction is tapping into the same saccharine zen found on her self-titled record on Singapore Sling Tapes. CLK’s interpretation though is blunt trauma toeing the line of hyper-masculinity with his bane for girlish stupidity. Or is it? Be mindful of the intent in “Change your hair change your life”, it’s not equipped for the knee-jerk.
