Heartsrevolution caught my attention several years ago when I was in high school, desperately searching for more electronic and indie music to fuel my newfound insatiable appetite for out-of-the-box musicians. From childhood, I had lived in a cultural void empty of anything but The Beatles, so when I stumbled upon the Kitsune Maison Complilation series, my world turned upside down. Then not too long afterwards, I found an iHeartComix (their label at the time) smpler CD at a thrift store and once again, there was this Heartsrevolution. Who is this girl yelling at me to choose my own adventure? Where can I hear more? It's been something like five years now, but now I've got my more, and I'm quite pleased. After a training meeting at work this morning, I came home to find a bright pink package in my mailbox. Seeing as that Ride or Die, the new LP from Heartsrevolution, dropped yesterday, I knew exactly what it was.
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| The buttons came separately, but they were just too cool to not show. |
Truly, though, I could not have been more surprised by an album preorder incentive package. I've ordered CDs and LPs in advance many times in the past, but never before have they included a coloring book, package of crayons, Pixy Stix, random Japanese candies or a card advertising their plans for a 2014 tour disguised as a Little Golden Book. In case you're not too familiar with Heartsrevolution, the band is a duo made up of 'Lo' Safai, and Ben Pollock, formed when Lo approached Ben to create a musical soundtrack for her Heartsrevolution ice cream truck. Childlike innocence, bright colors and cheerful imagery disguise a rather dark, serious and high-concept collection of songs pushing for a cultural revolution. The aforementioned Golden Book reads,
"Hello, let's be friends! This is the Heartschallenger Pop He(Art) Truck, founded by the band Heartsrevolution. It is a beacon of magic and wonder on a mission to create and revive amazement for the young and young of heart. The truck is covered in half of a million, magical Swarovski crystals passed down from the King of Pop [...]. In addition to selling band merch we also have a variety of our favorite popsicles, candy and toys."'A beacon of magic and wonder on a mission to create and revive amazement for the young' ... just yesterday, I was reading an article on Salon about how postmodernism and irony are effectively robbing culture of having any real worth. As a friend summed it up, no one is genuinely excited or amazed by anything anymore. That's really something to think about. Are we truly amazed or excited by anything, or do we just open ourselves to culture in a sort of snarky, sure-whatever sort of way? I can honestly say I'm only interested in the new Star Wars trilogy on the grounds that it will probably be terrible and a good laugh. The only comic books I read regularly are those with self-referential humor that deconstruct their genres. This album may be one of the only things (aside from Random Access Memories) in the last 12 months I've been genuinely excited about. Maybe the revolution has a chance of destroying the machine. Maybe we can learn how to be as excited and amazed by incredible, beautiful, fun things as we were when we were just kids.
Oh yeah, and they literally mean Michael Jackson. His tour was cancelled when he died, so they bought all the glitter and fake gemstones that he'd ordered for the stage decorations at a discount and used them to decorate their ice cream truck tour bus. That they actually use to sell ice cream. And stuffed animals. I know I mentioned that in the block quote, but I need to re-emphasize just how cool that is.
But you came here for music, not my ramblings, so let's get down to it. Here's some selections from the album, including a few new takes of tracks they've released before. Oh and there's a pink crayon in the jewel case. Just pointing that out.
I strongly advocate picking this album up, boys and girls. Crank up the volume, dance around in your socks a little while you get ready for work/school/make dinner, hug a stuffed animal, ignore the tabloids, fuck the hype, ride or die, etc. You can stream it on Spotify and Soundcloud, and purchase it on iTunes, and from the Heartsrevolution shop. I guess there's a Kitsune edition and LP coming soon too.
Have a day full of wonder and amazement. We out...
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