Rain accumulates on the window sill. It’s the wettest July in Mexico’s recent history. A thousand dead leaves block the neighbour’s gutter. The tea mug still smoulders away, the aroma of cheap imitation Earl Grey piss, the only available “tea” available in this coffee-addicted place.

“How to describe Spook Muziek?” I ask myself, avoiding taking a sip from the chipped mug. “Spaced’s soundtrack“, I mutter. My “a-ha!” moment. It was my third go of Spook Muziek‘s Pop Culture, and I was struggling how to pin down what it reminded me of. Hints of Fantastic Plastic Machine, Fluke, and All Seeing I pop up during the listening experience.

6 short tracks, smelted, cast, and solidified from Spook Muziek‘s myriad of influences, from the darkest Badalamenti score to the jolliest Animal Collective kumbaya-lite ditty. It was all presented as an alloy, urgent in pace, schizophrenic in lyrical content, and strangely palatable. The frantic ramble of ‘maybe’ is balanced by the contemplative ‘againagainagain’, a short track oozing early 2010s indie electronica. Industrial-lite ‘daydreams’ sways with a stylish pop trap sensibility whilst ‘retconage’ trips through fields of genres, kicking both Flume and Blur dustdevils during its runtime.

EP opener ‘popculture’ and closer ‘ladsdontcry’ are the definite highlights of Pop Culture. The former plows through with scenes of urban decay and sampled recordings, oozing through hallways once decorated with fashionable stucco.

Rain turns into a drizzle. The sun peeks through. Night falls and the rain soaked pavement reflects back the harsh light on the streets. A car passes by, blasting what-you-have by whomever-you-want. I mutter “Happiness comes from within, sadness goes in the bin” and continue my way home.

-Sam Valdés López