Nudity — scattered, smothered, covered & styling

Nudity live at The Groove Nashville; courtesy of Lance Conzett Photography.

Nashville cult act Nudity remain an undersung institution of local underground sects and scenes. Affiliated with other bright and adventurous pop acts PANGS, The Beta Macks and more; Michelle, Duane & Peace continue to entertain that intersectional zone within the demarcation line between creative modernist anachronisms and its corresponding ever-evolving post-modern permutations. Evidence of all this and more can be found on their recent covers EP Scattered / Smothered / Covered accompanied by a recent re-recording of their 2013 hit "Supernatural" (originally recorded under the title "Supernatty" for Happenin Records/Amdiscs) and a massive Halloween playlist. The group shows off their wealth of tastes and inspired adaptations with their signature flair and panache that potentially points to some great new works on the horizon.

Scattered / Smothered / Covered commences with Nudity giving Iggy and the Stooges' "Search and Destroy" the electro-clash treatment like something of a lost punk classic rendering re-energized circa 2003. Elastica's Brit Pop classic "Connection" is paid tribute in a spirited manner that speak's to the song's immortal energy, right before resurrecting the mod ethics of freak beat boppers the Creation with the two-cycle oil spitting rhythm guitar crunch of "Making Time", before channeling their inner-Marc Bolan hard on a wide-eyed re-working of "20th Century Boy". With these aforementioned covers are more or less faithful to their original blueprints; Nudity shows off a big arrangement and tone re-working with their ambitious cover of the Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie". The result is a mashup of thriller movie intensity with a Zeppelin-era arena rock edge that is rounded out by nervous rhythmic ticks (and heart-race looping suspense). The track gains in scale as the song transforms into a menacing haunted tower of pop baroque menace like a marble sky-scraping colossus

The “Supernatty” redux/redo as “Supernatural” turns up one of Nudity’s most beloved singles to a higher definition. The track creeps into the audio frame with oscillating effects that sets the stage of an electric wonderland. The new version is bigger, bolder and with less distortion that allows the listener to appreciate the array of electronic elements that frame the vibrant aura of Michelle’s voice. Nudity reboots an ode to those special phenomenal ones, the phenoms who are there during the good, the bad and the weird. “Supernatural” is a song in praise of those sacred and cryptic pacts shared between the most tightly connected of bonds. It salutes the ride or dies, the ones that shine and emphasizes the value and unstoppable illumination of those inspired and affectionate lights that shine forth together in a harmonious lust (with plenty of attitude).

Nudity took the time to share with us some exclusive thoughts on all the latest developments:

Scattered/Smothered/Covered:

Okay, so to save a little time and avoid being redundant let’s just say all these songs we chose to cover are just magic. Like, the original compositions and recordings are such sonic alchemy that we remember where we were when we first heard them and knew instantly that we wanted to be some part of them. They're the songs/recordings that make you excited for your own creativity and just make you want to share and bring them with you throughout life. They're really important that way but they're also perfectly accessible. That's the best combination.

“Search and Destroy“

This started out as a cover we played at live shows and always got a wild response. Some friends kept bugging us about recording our version and, years on, we finally got around to it. As a three piece band doing it live there was a leanness to it compared with our really dense original productions and it was so damn exciting to speed the thing up and have it take on a new defiance from a female perspective. The Stooges' “S&D” almost seems like one of those untouchable moments in rock & roll because it's such an impossibly brutal song and performance but us doing it live proved that there's always going to be an appetite for this tune. It always kills.

“Connection”

I've always loved Elastica and this is just one of those massive riffs that's irresistible. I love the production of the original, it kind of has all the qualities Nudity aspires to. Every element is playing a smart and catchy part but it feels wonderfully close to careening out of control at any moment too. We just tried to honor that. This is another tune that came from our live shows.

“Making Time”

I honestly know very little about the Creation and was exposed to this song through Wes Anderson's Rushmore soundtrack. This, like early Kinks and the Who songs of the era, are as proto punk to me as Iggy and the Stooges. There's this simple frenetic insistence to them. A wildness that resides in musicians younger than 23. It's unapologetically defiant and naive. Long live that.

“20th Century Boy”

This tune has so much whimsical swagger it's oozing out of every pore. Part of what makes dissecting someone else's brilliant work worthwhile is getting to know the individual parts and seeing how they serve the whole. 20th Century Boy is definitely a case (like any great art) where the whole is even greater than the sum of its wonderful parts. That is to say there's that sort of sonic alchemy here again that's rarer in today's modern productions where you can't quite account for the magic of electricity traveling through magnetic tape and the transformation of energy into new energy. The rhythm section here cannot be ignored...the drum, bass and acoustic guitar parts are a masterclass in glam groove. Random Trivia: In working up this cover we learned that the original was recorded in Tokyo.

“Wake Up Little Susie”

"Wake Up Little Susie" is our creepy cover of the song made famous in 1957 by the Everly Brothers. We cut our odd arrangement of that upbeat original to be included in a horror film soundtrack. The premise of the movie…a young woman who wakes from a dream to realize her worst nightmare has come true. This is something sinister in time for Halloween…a slow burn of suspense, equal parts beauty and menace, balancing precariously in that bizarre space between waking and dreaming.

“Supernatural”

Supernatural is a song about the magic powers of love, attraction, technology and finding oneself and someone else in the modern world. All of the harrowing alienation and exhilarating connections that are part of falling under love's spell. It’s one of those sad happy songs that we love and hey, it suits the freaky season! Happy Halloween!

Nudity are always working and we're in a writing mode at the moment. The cover series was a fun little excursion that we may revisit here and there but we're really interested in making something new. Using what we’ve learned from some of our favorite artists and aiming that energy inward. There are a lot of new songs in us and we're really excited and grateful for the chance to bring them to life on our own terms.

Nudity's Halloween 2k19 Spotify Playlist: