Kari Kimmel and engineer Joe Corcoran, have two very impressive resumes on their own. Kimmel has written songs for pop music’s elite like Ke$ha, Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato. She’s performed with Ringo Starr at the Grammys and the last count of her songs in movies and TV is at 650. Corcoran is a highly sought-after engineer and producer with two platinum records and a number one hit for his contribution to Lenka’s 2009 breakthrough “The Show”. Together, however, they are something completely different: they are LUC.
Having released their debut EP Glow this past Halloween and given the duo’s respective pop histories, their sound is surprisingly different from their previous pop pedigrees. With an electro background from producer Corcoran, the EP channels Blondie, St. Vincent and hard house beats a’la The Chainsmokers. It’s sort of Sleigh Bells refined and electro-fied, if that’s a thing. They also have really fun, stark imagery in their first video for the EP’s title track:
Amid the 70s Kraftwerk-meets-80s-Power Station vibe of said video, said title track opens with a very familiar Nine Inch Nails-inspired beat, but it doesn’t go anywhere near pseudo-industrial. Much more on the Blondie end of funk and the indie end of pop electro, Kimmel’s vocals give the track its final form. The track a little cooler than St. Vincent in its final form, sounding more like a collab between Cut Copy and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
On the EP, “Glow” is followed by another fun indie electro track called “Over It” which will definitely remind fans of the genre of Sleigh Bells or The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and has a bit more pop cachet. “Extraverdant” is more soft and indie-driven, with a well-produced breakbeat and very little electro influence. “Ghost” has a similar feeling but with more of a disco house beat, while “Running Down the Halls” is pure indie pop. Finally, the EP closes with a smoky, bass-driven ballad that is very emotive but still has that indie pop cheek.
The whole Glow EP has that cooler-than-cool feel to it that, while it runs through a lot of styles (not just 80s electropop) stays consistently analog-tinged, vintage and fun. The duo have found in LUC, and Glow is a solid first release. It will be interesting to see where they go from this debut, and that they will continue to Glow up with the fun, remixable EDM elements of their sound.
Glow is out now and can be purchased on iTunes. Playlist the EP’s title track on Spotify and check out the Patrick Nagel-inspired video on LUC’s YouTube channel.