Nashville’s ascending space-disco duo The Weird Sisters released its latest offering, Lost in the Chronic/Ride That Satellite, in April, out of Sputnik Sound in Berry Hill.
For the A-side, “Lost in the Chronic” keeps the eccentricity of Gabrielle Lewis and Izaac Short—the backbone of the psych-rock/hip-hop duo known as The Weird Sisters—in power keys and Short’s distorted electric rhythm and riff-playing form. The intro sounds inspired by hip-hop duo Run the Jewels, eventually morphing into some Beastie Boys-style trip-spitting lyric flow.
Lewis’ Moog work and vocal counterpoint accompanying Short’s melodic, electric riffs all blend in-studio to create a polyphonic soundscape.
“Ride That Satellite,” the B-side, opens as a retro, 16-bit, disco-rocker racing video game theme with one of Lewis’ hands seeming to keep a Fender Rhodes electric piano oscillating with a synth horn section Moog’ing on the other. Short’s funky electric rhythm strokes and star-gazing, party lyricism mold a track worthy of soundtracking a Steven Soderbergh or Guy Ritchie bank heist montage.
Historically, the pair have built their sound in live show settings and delve into some funky grunge-punk, too, previously opening shows at The Blue Bear Barn on Murfreesboro Pike, for instance, to more recently playing with fellow Middle Tennessee acts Ron Gallo and John Roseboro at The Basement East.
“Keep up the weird I think it’s your forte,” commented seeming septuagenarian Dorothy Robinson on The Weird Sisters’ initial Facebook cover photo of an analog Moog keyboard lined with 3D glasses from May 2017. Robinson’s comment came about three years after Lewis and Short posted the pic. Dorothy’s comment now stands as a two-year-old testament to the genuine musical fortitude of the “space disco duo,” surely exactly the attention and encouragement The Weird Sisters needed for its skyrocketing musical plan.
If Dorothy’s statement and the recent Lost in the Chronic/Ride That Satellite release—on top of the quirky and continuously awesome social media presence of footage produced on ’80s VHS camcorders with the tracking a little off—isn’t good growth, then we’re all drenched in sweat for nothing.
The Weird Sisters played the 2022 Muddy Roots Music Festival in Cookeville, Tennessee, and have plans to do it again this year. Footage from over the last six years can be found on their Facebook band page, on Instagram @the_weirdsisters, at youtube.com/theweirdsisters69 and at theweirdsistersband.com. Lost in the Chronic/Ride That Satellite can be found streaming across the icons at Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, and theweirdsisters.bandcamp.com.
The Weird Sisters also teamed up with Nashville’s Watch It Burn Records to press a 7-inch vinyl of Lost in the Chronic/Ride That Satellite; find it and more information at theweirdsistersband.com.
