Song of the Day: The Electric Peanut Butter Company - Beer Good

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Beer Good” by The Electric Peanut Butter Company from the 2014 album Trans​-​Atlantic Psych Classics Vol​.​ 1 on Ubiquity Records.

The Electric Peanut Butter Company - Beer Good (MP3)

The brainchild of two modern funk all-stars, The Electric Peanut Butter Company is a diverse, swirling helping of psychedelic groove. The creamy/crunchy spread-named outfit is the project of Shawn Lee (Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra) and Adrian Quesada (Brownout), two mutual admirers who began the collaboration over email in 2010. Piecing together sections of funky instrumentals, the pair crafted their 2013 debut Trans-Atlantic Psych Classics Vol. 2, referencing both their work process and offbeat sense of humor in the title of the album. The pair continued to work together in between other projects, resulting in 2014's aptly-titled Trans-Atlantic Psych Classics Vol. 1. On the peanut butter funk spectrum, "Beer Good" is definitely crunchy, led by multi-tracked guitar licks and sharp, snappy drums. Lee comes in with a sizzling keyboard line to add some flow to the song's heavy strut, and in the song's second half, that keyboard line gives way to a more relaxed moment before tightening up in the song's final home stretch. Hypnotic and immediate, "Beer Good" sounds like a song that would soundtrack a Homer Simpson musical montage in the early seasons of The Simpsons, which is to say, it's good.

Electric Peanut Butter Company don't have any announced shows or forthcoming music, but keep an eye on their Bandcamp for any announcements, and keep up with Shawn Lee at his Facebook page and Adrian Quesada over at Brownout's. Today's featured song comes from Trans​-​Atlantic Psych Classics Vol​.​ 1, but Lee and Quesada have recently released Trans​-​Atlantic Psych Classics Vol​.​ 2. Here's "Mary’s Chair" from the new LP: