I stood in line at the Gas ‘n Go behind a man with a pistol tucked into the elastic waistband of his sweatpants, yelling that the cashier only gave him three Powerball tickets when he should’ve gotten four. I bowed my head and thought about patience and chance. The manager intervened, and everyone narrowly avoided getting shot. Near pump number nine, a woman in the passenger seat of a pickup wiped away some tears. She caught me looking, and I turned away and fiddled with the radio. A chipper advertisement encouraged me to order nutrients harvested from jellyfish.
This year Kevin Richard Martin has been racing Bohren & Der Club of Gore to the bottom of the doom pits with two grainy, low-lit releases: Nightcrawler and Downtown. Both albums are steeped in seedy slow-motion drums, subterrestrial bass, and smudges of brass while something sinister whirs in the background. Perfect autumn music. Downtown was released today, and it’s Bandcamp Friday.
