Song of the Day: Lucius - Born Again Teen

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 DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters, is “Born Again Teen” by Lucius from the 2016 album Good Grief on Mom + Pop Records.

Lucius - Born Again Teen (MP3)

Matching their impeccable sartorial taste, Lucius' music – a mixture of girl group dynamics, modern folk rock instrumentation, and '60s pop rock melodies – is endlessly clever in its adaptation of retro sounds. Admirably immediate and undeniably infections, the Brookyln quintet's songcraft follows through on the visually striking band's promise. Their instrumental section – guitarists Peter Lalish and Andrew Burri and drummer Dan Molad – brings nuance, rather than grandiosity, to the band’s harmonic swells. However, their not-so-secret weapon is the twin vocals of Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, an enrapturing pair that often splits the difference between alluring whispers and soaring, gospel shouts. Their potent chemistry is wisely put front-and-center on "Born Again Teen", the lead single from their sophomore effort, Good Grief. The song bursts out of the gate with a manic energy and franticness that Lucius never tapped into on Wildewoman, their 2013 debut, and never lets up. Laessig and Wolfe's twin vocals – which have earned admirers and collaborators in Roger Waters and Jeff Tweedy, among others – lead the song with one of the duo's best performances, as their bandmates swerve behind them at 100 miles a minute. Between its seemingly endless supply of hooks, frenetic stop/start pace, and monster chorus, there's a lot to love about "Born Again Teen", but it's most striking feature might just be how sublimely all its pieces come together to form four breathless minutes of breakneck pop fire.

Lucius begin the tour behind Good Grief in March, and when West Coast dates are announced, that news will be at their website and Facebook. Below, watch the video for "Born Again Teen":