Formed back in 2013 when both songwriters’ primary outlets were still active, Hot Hot Heat’s Steve Bays and The Gay Nineties’ Parker Bossley were quick to release their debut album as Fur Trade, with Don’t Get Heavy pivoting from the post-punk revivalism both respective groups specialized in to something more electronics-based to better suit the zeitgeist of indie-rock in the 2010s. Now, a full decade later, the duo returns with their sophomore release, which continues to see them producing music that aligns with the direction alt-radio-rock seems to be headed in while paying homage to the past.
Case in point: album cut “Monaco” instantly recalls the funktronica of Chromeo’s peak in the early ’10s as well as Daft Punk’s 2013 collaboration with Julian Casablancas “Instant Crush”—the latter a continuation of the legacy of French house music dating at least as far back as the ’90s. And that’s no coincidence, according to Bays, who shares that the track was ideated while stumbling through Paris at night.
“We ended up at an after-hours disco in some sort of underground bunker, and something about seeing the impact of French disco music on everyone in there resonated with us,” he recalls. “We were drinking red wine, watching everyone dancing, and imagining the creative sacrifices those musicians and producers had made up front, for the greater good of the audience, by keeping the groove and overall energy steady and uplifting from start to finish. It was our ethereal ‘aha’ moment and led to us writing most of Monaco at some trust fund kid’s loft that same night.”
The track comes paired with a self-directed video that’s as glamorous as the song itself, with Bays and Bossley living it up on yachts and performing the tune in the headlights of luxury vehicles. Check it out below, and stream the full LP here.
