voodoo economics

Transplanted from Portland, OR to Philadelphia in 2005, Voodoo Economics has spent the last four years making music that defies genre without alienating listeners. While musical comparisons have ranged from Deerhoof and the Need to The Slits and The English Beat, most agree that the music is refreshingly difficult to categorize. The band has been making rounds in Philadelphia at the Khyber, the North Star Bar, The M Room, the Millcreek Tavern, the Vacuum, and Johnny Brenda’s, and toured through the Southeast US en route to SXSW in Austin in Spring 2008. Their home base is inciting hq, a multi-purpose DIY space run by drummer Justin Gibbon.

Voodoo Economics combines adventurous song structures with biting, often disconcerting lyrics, and rhythms that range from hectic junkyard breakbeats to odd-metered head-nodders. Their new full-length release, if : then :: iminami, is a hypertweaked follow-up to their 2006 eponymous debut ep. Produced by the band’s multi-instrumentalist / vocalist Alison Conard, iminami reveals a deeper plunge into linear, beat-driven territory with a more distinct emphasis on story, atmosphere, electronics, and distortion. Their current live show reflects the eerie tone and dirty crunch of the album, with Gibbon and bassist Jeremy Prouty taking turns at running samples and sequences while Conard maintains her signature multi-task ADHD performance style.