Jess Scott, 'Modern Primitive'

For as outlandish and musically progressive as it can be, rock and roll's raison d'être is the reset: a few guitar chords, a simple beat, lyrics that make no sense or all the sense. See: The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, "Louie Louie." Jess Scott — an LA-based musician known for her time with the shoegaze-y jangle-pop group Brilliant Colors and post-punks Flesh World — understands that rock and roll is not a vibe, but an urge.

"Modern Primitive," the title track of Scott's debut solo EP, is a two-minute treatise on the singular act of creation, using the rudimentary tools at your disposal. Scratchy guitar chords shimmy and shake. Bass and synth whiz and warble with a cool distance. Drums lunge at and caress the unstable groove. You could dance to "Modern Primitive," but Scott, whose vocal delivery slots somewhere between Lou Reed and Kim Gordon, would perhaps prefer us to just ooze forth: "I am inventing a tune to commune."

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