“The expression you were wearing of emotional pain / Like anybody struggling to keep themselves sane.” Thus begins “Runnin,” the latest track from the peripatetic indie folk duo Ohtis, but the narrator’s detached intonation is worlds away from the anguish the object of his gaze must be experiencing. This first single from the…
It’s only been a couple weeks since Jamaican Queens released a video for “Don’t Call Me Up,” and they’ve now shared some visuals for another Downers cut — “Never Felt Love.” It seems like both the band and director Brenton Bober are eager for Halloween weekend to arrive. The video calls to mind…
It’s hard to pin down Jamaican Queens. The band’s music has been described as psychedelic, industrial, tropicalia, and doo-wop, and all these elements can be heard on their brilliant full-length Downers, released earlier this year. The new video finds drummer Ryan Clancy frolicking through a world filled with green screens, morph suits, and…
Jamaican Queens introduced us to their turbulent pop two years ago with the release of Wormfood. After garnering acclaim and winning over new fans on national and European tours, the band started working on a follow-up. The resulting album, Downers, is a drug cocktail equal parts elation and depression with heaving, fuzzy synth lines…
Powerhouse experimental pop trio Jamaican Queens are back in Detroit after a stint on the road. Their tour hasn’t slowed them down a bit, as they have just shared the third advance track from their upcoming sophomore album Downers. “Love Is Impossible” starts relatively subdued, featuring a minimalist beat and the quaint strum…
Late last year, Detroit Music Magazine had the pleasure of premiering the trailer for Jamaican Queens’ upcoming “Bored + Lazy” video, and now the genre-defying group have released the full clip. As directed by local filmmaking duo The Right Brothers, the video depicts a wild night out in the city, including stops at UFO…
The Jamaican Queens camp have been pretty quiet since the release of Wormfood almost two years ago, save for a recent single and various remixes. Since then the band have garnered quite the following, taking their trademark brand of pop on tour nationwide and abroad. “Joe” is a different animal entirely. Gone are the…
Since releasing their debut album, Wormfood, just over two years ago, the Detroit-based band Jamaican Queens have earned critical acclaim and become Motor City music royalty. But the group appears unbounded – either by city limits or stylistic conventions. Despite the title of their recently released single, “Bored + Lazy,” Jamaican Queens are…
Unlike the steady but assured ascent of their career’s trajectory over the past few years, the latest single from Detroit “trap-pop” group Jamaican Queens begins in fits and starts, as if trying to find its footing. The track’s title, too, indicates some degree of uncertainty — “Bored + Lazy” — with the punctuation a (plus) sign that there’s…