Bonnaroo Preview: Kuroma

This post is from Out the Other's 2009 Bonnaroo Artist Previews, where I will be posting previews of all the musical acts playing the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Please check out and subscribe to the full site to learn more about all of this year's performers.

And... we're two for two with the late-night awesomeness in the Troo Music Lounge (also see: Ki: Theory). Hitting the stage at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday night is Kuroma, another name that was new to me, but for reasons I can't really fathom, seeing as how Kuroma is Hank Sullivant, one of the founding members of the Whigs and a former touring guitarist for MGMT.  Um, right up my alley much?  And judging by everything I'm currently hearing on the debut EP Paris, there's no way this one would stay under my radar for very much longer.

Kuroma's a project that's been in the works for a while - even when recording the Whigs' 2005 debut Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip, Sullivant found himself working with arrangements and overdubs on the album, sparking a surge of creativity that found him writing songs that didn't quite fit with what his band was working on.  He bowed out of the Whigs about two years later, and after playing briefly with MGMT, the musician decided to really focus on Kuroma and his own material. And we should be glad that he did - Paris is an excellent mishmash of genres and influences - from power pop to prog rock to psychedelic soul. With rock 'n' roll at its roots, Kuroma's sound is definitely something that would appeal to fans of MGMT, and just like that NY duo, Sullivant has a knack for summery hooks and catchy choruses.  Case in point, "In New York, Everything is Tropical" - a song that was inspired by a dream:

"It's the first song I ever dreamt," Sullivant explains.   "The dream was really great - I was parasailing in Miami, and the boat underneath me was playing this No Doubt song that I'd never heard before.   I was really enjoying it - and I don't like No Doubt!   Then I woke up and I remembered the whole thing.   I had dreamt the whole song, and just immediately transcribed it with no problem at all.   The chorus was about Miami, but since I don't know anything about Miami, I ended up writing it about New York.   So it's this whole mutilation of No Doubt, where it's subverting these commercial identities while also celebrating them."

I'm not so sure that No Doubt can still pull off anything this catchy, but I welcome them to try.

"In New York, Everything Is Tropical"
"Alexander Martin"

Kuroma will play the Troo Music Lounge on Saturday night/Sunday morning from 1:30-2:20 a.m., giving us yet another awesome reason to stay up late. Check out the full Bonnaroo schedule on the official Bonnaroo website.