This past spring, Studio One’s Lucius Pham was in Iowa City and spoke with Kai Slater, who was in town with Sharp Pins for a show at Gabe’s. Sharp Pins is just one of Slater’s projects: he’s also in the bands Lifeguard and Silver Dolls, and publishes the underground ‘zine Hallogallo, documenting the underground scene in Chicago.
Slater’s a busy guy with a lot of fascinating projects, but we’re here today to talk about Sharp Pins. They released their new album, Mod Mayday 23, last Friday, and if you’re a fan of classic ‘60s sounds you’ll be in heaven. Unlike a lot of artists who try to emulate that era, Sharp Pins never comes across as inauthentic, or like they’re dressing up as a ‘60s band for Halloween. Sharp Pins clearly have their own point of view, and their sound clearly comes from a place of love.
Slater told us as much. “I was naturally just drawn to '60s and psychedelia from that time. It was just such a wellspring of an era,” said Slater. “I'm really inspired by a lot of '60s movements — not just the British invasion, that's an obvious one — like Tropicália. I feel like that's kind of the peak of music for me. I think it has a lot of parallels to America right now. Just this bright music in the face of a dictatorship and stuff like that.”
Given how much Slater has going on, it feels weirdly appropriate that the second song on this new album is called “The Face Of Youth Today.” If a major pop star wrote a song with that title, we’d all roll their eyes at them. Coming from Sharp Pins, it feels audacious, but also kind of charming. And by the time Slater gets to the chorus (or is it a bridge?) and sings “I don't ever wanna hear you talk about me / I just wanna hear you say you love to be me / Do you wanna know about the things that I can do when I'm alone?,” it’s pretty obvious he’s having fun with the whole idea.
Mod Mayday 23 is available on Bandcamp and streaming services, along with the rest of Slater’s music from Sharp Pins and all of his other bands.
