Wayne Graham’s quirky Southern boogie has more in common with late-period Wilco than LCD Soundsystem’s post-punk dancefloor antics. But the Kentucky-bred quartet was striving to find some common ground with the latter on “We Could Have Been Friends,” the latest single from its new LP, Bastion, out tomorrow on Hickman Holler/Thirty Tigers.
LCD Soundsystem was among a long list of acts on regular rotation as Wayne Graham recorded its ninth album—stuff like Acetone, Sufjan Stevens, Allison Russell, King Gizzard, Suicide, Arthur Russell, Dylan, Bowie and Childish Gambino. All that variety contributed to the album’s slightly unhinged, experimental feel, even as the group summons vestiges of Appalachian tradition.
“We Could Have Been Friends” began life on bass and drums, as opposed to, say, acoustic guitar. “It felt dark from the beginning—not sinister, just ambivalent,” says bandleader Kenny Miles. “At different points while recording and mixing the song, the refrain sounded like it could either be in response to a minor infraction—like not showing up to a party—or a terrible mistake. That seemed funny to us.”
We’re proud to premiere Wayne Graham’s “We Could Have Been Friends.”
—Hobart Rowland
