Did The Lord Bless Show Low Musician Gorky's "#Datass"?

Show Low psych-weirdos Gorky will come down from the mountains to perform at Crescent Ballroom on Tuesday, August 5. While the quintet's excellent 2010 LP High in the Low showcased a firm grasp on the kaleidoscopic interpretation of mid and late '60s rock 'n' roll subgenres favored by formidable influence the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Gorky has taken a sharp left turn with its new single, "#Datass."

The song is an infectious electro-soul ode to you-know-what. It's fun, funky, and a little silly -- a distillation of Gorky's idiosyncratic take on the proverbial "song of the summer," as band mastermind Jesse Valencia puts it.

According to Valencia, "#Datass" is the first product of the rejuvenated Gorky, after a long period of relative inactivity since its debut album. He says, "A follow-up, The Deuces, will be out tentatively in the fall, while a third record is slated for a spring 2015 release."

For the band's Phoenix appearance, "Travis Mills is shooting the video. 

The Running Wild Films director will be filming the band and the crowd at Crescent for the '#Datass' video. I recently appeared in Mills' adaptation of James Joyce's Eveline and have nothing but praise for the writer/actor/director: A true artist in every sense of the word -- there's an authenticity to the work that you just don't find too many places."

Though Valencia acknowledges that Gorky's new single is a goofy slice of electro-sleaze, he maintains in the following abridged (but unedited) manifesto he emailed this writer listing several reasons "God Has Blessed '#Datass."

1. God paid for the song. 

Moments after finishing the final mix, I played "#Datass" repeatedly on my phone in a parking lot, 400 dollars randomly blew up to me. There wasn't a soul around so I snatched it up, grabbed my tasty cold beverage and split.


2. We recorded "#Datass" at the Gin Blossoms' studio, Uranus Recording in Tempe. Our first day of tracking, Robin Wilson walks in to drop off some gear, looks over at me and says, 'is that my guitar?' 'Yes', I say. 'Looks good on you,' he says. So that was cool.



3. I just got my MFA in Creative Writing from [Northern Arizona University] -- "#Datass" may look like this degrading song but there's commentary in there about gender inequalities, a little poetry, and some other shit I learned in grad school, so no, this ain't your average twerk jam. Equal pay for equal twerk, I say.


4. I got my civil rights back. 

After a near-fatal car accident left me with a broken ankle and four felonies, I quit drugs and poured myself into writing and school. In May my record was wiped clean and my rights restored in full. Life has been amazing ever since.

At press time, it could not be confirmed whether a divine hand had indeed expunged Valencia's criminal record, but to be fair to the singer, subsequent conversations I've had with him have proved this "manifesto" was delivered with a nod and a wink, which still does not rule out the possibility that he's insane. Or an insane genius.

Gorky is scheduled to play Crescent Ballroom on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

Find any show in Metro Phoenix via our extensive online concert calendar.

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