Rising from the ashes of Minneapolis’ Gayngs collective, Polica is a chilly, beat-driven Electro outfit that mixes the shimmering vocals of Channy Leaneagh with the sleek production work of Ryan Olson.
But this is no ordinary synthesized affair: A pair of drummers and an uncommonly expressive bassist anchor the band’s full-length debut, Give You the Ghost, which Mom + Pop dropped on Valentine’s Day despite being something less than loving in its overall mood. Take the album’s closer, “Leading to Death,” an odd little tune that seems to revel in one’s ability to stifle tears in the face of another’s unfortunate demise. Other ominous song titles include the throbbing “Violent Games,” which brings to mind Portishead on fast-forward, and “Dark Star,” a funky, horn-spiked ride that finds Leaneah stating that there “ain’t a man in this world who can pull me down from my dark star.”
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon has called Polica “the best band I have ever heard,” which is kind of ludicrous but also kind of expected — he worked with Leaneagh and Olson in Gayngs. He’s also a proponent of auto-tuned vocals, a technological aid that Leaneagh employs to curious effect, essentially “tuning” her vocals to interact more fluidly with Olson’s carefully crafted soundscapes and a robust rhythm section that ends up being Polica’s real ace in the hole.
POLICA performs Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 20th Century Theatre in Oakley. Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here.
