How Columbia-forged Post Sex Nachos makes timeless pop about the times of our lives
A bass note jumpstarts a synth-pop groove, and the groove disorients you in the best possible way. This music could be humming into your life from 1974, 1984, 1994.
You might not know when or where you are for a moment, but you know the sound is cool, immediately travels the length of your body, and that this music could resonate through nearly any year in pop music history.
The song, "Canyons," happens to be from 2024, from this moment, and leads "Prima/Vera," the new record from Post Sex Nachos. Forged in Columbia, the band now calls Nashville home, where it keeps refining and expanding its sublime pop sound.
With its distinct rhythmic hits and a lyrical interest in how we move across space and time, toward one another, "Canyons" perfectly sets up "Prima/Vera." The record dazzles on impact and, with repeated listens, reveals a complex melancholy.
"Mushroom Cloud" follows with nimble percussion preparing the way for gliding guitar. This is a track built for forward motion, built from the littlest thrills.
Soulful, shimmering keyboards lend their personality to "Growing Old," which captures a strange moment in one's maturation: "I think I'll change my name / Get a tattoo on my face / Just to prove I'm unpredictable / I'm always trying to change," the lyrics go, a sort of raging against the dying light of youth.
Kansas City-area band The Greeting Committee gets in on the fun with "Talk About It," which somehow is both a staccato slice of pop and a stretched-out, groovy anthem.
Late in the tracklist, Post Sex Nachos introduces two songs that might be read as proper ballads but, in the spirit of that line in "Growing Old," neither feels predictable or paint-by-numbers.
"Highlight" is softer, slower, but still whistles, still skates ahead, still features lyrics about making out in a "tiny car" and tumbling for older women. "Four Leaf Clover" features a deliberate, quietly devastating pronunciation of the word "impermanent" and houses this surprising knockout punch: "And I'm not bitter, but I tend to be cynical."
As the record winds to a close, the band also shows off its capacity for beginnings and endings. The coda to the Talking Heads-esque "Keep Moving" makes a mantra of those two words. And the opening line to final track "Feel This Way" seals the album's themes of growing up, whether you like it or not:
"I used to go to parties to get messed up / But now I go to parties to test my luck."
The secret to "Prima/Vera's" success is that the record feels like a party play, but lingers with long-haul appeal. Much like the time of life Post Sex Nachos describes in song. Fans of acts like Passion Pit, Neon Indian and Toro y Moi will experience immediate delight while close listeners will hear strains of more timeless acts like Fleetwood Mac, Duran Duran and John Mayer. Whatever you come to "Prima/Vera" for, Post Sex Nachos ensures you'll stay.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at [email protected] or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia-forged Post Sex Nachos dazzles on new album 'Prima/Vera'
