I need to give Exeter’s Venice Treacle credit for christening a genre I have always adored, but never could name: Quank. Sitting somewhere in the Bermuda triangle between indie, no-wave, psychedelic rock, jazz, math rock, and funk, quank makes for the finest music genre name I can imagine, and it describes the catchy, individual sound that Venice Treacle offers.
Their new single “Bad Aji” does more than provide some head-bopping hooks: It also gets into commentary. The lyrics allude to a 2016 match between Go master Lee Sedol and DeepMind’s AI program AlphaGo, where the computer made a move no human would have thought of. Although it was considered a mistake at the time, the computer’s move worked in its favor, and AlphaGo eventually won the match.
“Bad Aji” echoes the anxiety of the algorithms winning the war against us. But masked behind the funky jams, Venice Treacle delivers something organic and fun for our ears to help us put those fears behind us for four minutes. Take a listen to Venice Treacle’s quacky new single below. (Note: “Quanky” will now become a regular word in my musical lexicon.)
Written by Will Sisskind
