The Voidz – “Coul As A Ghoul”

The Voidz – “Coul As A Ghoul”

Is it possible that the Voidz could’ve made a song too weird for their new album? Yesterday, I would’ve answered that question with an emphatic no. The whole point of the Strokes leader Julian Casablancas’ current band seems to be that they’re equipped to translate all of Casablancas’ weirdest impulses into actual music. During the lead-up to the band’s new album, Casablancas envisioned a world where Ariel Pink is as big as Ed Sheeran. And Virtue, the album that the Voidz released last month, seems like their honest attempt to bring such a world into reality. It’s a deeply strange and off-kilter pop album, one that’s all the stranger because it’s coming from a genuine rock star. So I wouldn’t have guessed that anything would be too weird for it. But then “Cool As A Ghoul” came along.

“Cool As A Ghoul” is the new song from the Voidz. They released it as part of this year’s Adult Swim Singles series, and it’s built from a sense of aesthetic randomness that seems custom-designed for Adult Swim. “Cool As A Ghoul” has a wormy digital bassline, a drooling troglodytic guitar attack, a rickety and insistent drum-machine beat with some death-metal double-bass action, and a mid-song bit where Casablancas presents “the 187th Warmonger Of The Year award.” It is on a heavy weirdness trip.

This Saturday, Record Store Day, “Cool As A Ghoul” will be available as a B-side to the Voidz’ “QYURRYUS” 7″. But right now, you can hear it below.

Virtue is out now on RCA.

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