Alex Mussawir used to lead Future Nuns, a Columbus rock band that dealt in short, jangly outbursts indebted to a spectrum of ’80s underground greats, from R.E.M. to the Fall to the Flying Nun catalog. Before that he was in Goners, whose “Teenage Depression” was like Times New Viking trying to write a Sonic Youth song. Nowadays he’s focused on Kneeling In Piss, a versatile lo-fi project that is having an extremely prolific 2020.

Kneeling In Piss released their debut album Tour De Force back in March and immediately followed it with The Mob, an EP recorded on tour with equipment purchased from Guitar Center and returned to a different Guitar Center location within two weeks. That one contained a song called “Stop Practicing Your Instruments,” a sentiment in keeping with Mussawir’s preference for immediacy and authenticity over sleek professionalism. This philosophy, even more than his stylistic touchstones, qualifies as a throwback.

“In terms of motivating factors, one of the biggest ones is to try as hard as I can to make [the music] interesting and engaging,” Mussawir told Columbus Alive. “And I put that at a priority over craft or musicianship. The albums that I’ve enjoyed the most or felt the closest with had a similar set of priorities, as well. That’s why I’ve always played a $100 guitar without effects pedals. That’s always been the kind of stuff that appealed to me.”

The Mob was billed as the first installment of a serialized album to be released in three parts. The next one, Music For Peasants, drops at the end of October. It’s preceded today by “Sofia, Baby Please,” a droning keyboard-powered lo-fi pop song on which Mussawir pleads, “Sofia Coppola, please put me in your movies/ I’d like to leave Ohio/ Your camera lights look soothing.” Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Music For Peasants”
02 “Pervert Today”
03 “Sofia, Baby Please”
04 “I Love The Avant Garde”

Music For Peasants is out 10/30 on Anyway. Pre-order it here.