The tireless young Chicago power-pop auteur Kai Slater is a member of Lifeguard, and he also makes his own shimmering '60s-style gems under the name Sharp Pins. He's really, really good at it. Slater, still in his early twenties, released the excellent Sharp Pins album Balloon Balloon Balloon last year. Since then, Sharp Pins have appeared on the Red Xerox compilation, reissued the 2023 tape Mod Mayday 23, and released the one-off single "Saturday Sun." Early next year, we're getting a new Sharp Pins EP.
The forthcoming Sharp Pins record comes bearing the slightly inscrutable title Electric My Icebox. It'll include six tracks, including "Saturday Sun" and the brand-new "How Can I Explain What She Does To Me?" The latter is a beautifully dazed jangle that recalls the mid-'60s moment when a million American garage bands did their best to copy the sound of the British Invasion bands that they idolized. But maybe it sounds more like an actual British Invasion record, since Kai Slater is a better mimic than so many of his forebears. Check it out below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Electric My Icebox"
02 "How Can I Explain What She Does To Me?"
03 "Saturday Sun"
04 "(You've Got An) Elephant Eye"
05 "In Love With The Frozen Girl"
06 "Umbrella Man"
The Electric My Icebox EP is out 1/15 on K/Perennial.
