Genius shows up when we least expect it. This summer that rarest bluebird of G-happiness flew in while we all had our windows open in the wee small hours to allow cool air into our domiciles after record-breaking daytime heat. It was then that Rawb Middleton‘s new record, Puppies and Kittens, appeared on our gramophones and iPhones. Most of us in East Portland were understandably more concerned with sunstroke, dehydration, rashes, broken fans, and lost air conditioners than we were with rockin’ our glutes off. Such was our loss. Despite fire danger and insufferable temps, rolling and rocking should have been our primary concern.
Middleton is a master of confident, caustic, between-line-reading lyricism. His big beats counterpunch both hopeful melodies and shank-sharp instrumentalities. The freshness in these tunes builds from his deft combination of the ideational DNA of sound, form, expectation and effect. Familiar words and sounds are rebuilt, brick by brick, into a gleaming new city of song composition. Puppies is his best work to date. This is the masterwork where all the hard, angular pieces unexpectedly fit together into a heartwarming puzzle picture.
“Every Home Should Have a Ghost” sings of family tag-playing with the local nocturnal entity. “PAWP” rocks with anger at dastardly social media and money. The tender, “Jet Before the Angels,” inexplicably brings back some serious Seattle nostalgia. “Cool or Unusual” is a familiar requiem for the good ole days before Capitol Hill became pricier to live in than Tokyo. “One of the Women” is a synth fantasia of romance with titular pets in the video. Every song on this disc is a winner. Listen, love and learn.
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