Artwork by Alberto Pazzi.
There’s a couple of key descriptors that Brooklyn-based, retro-inspired rock outfit YAASSS (two As, three Ss, get it right) like to use in reference to their music – primarily they define themselves as “falafel rock” and have no aversion to describing themselves as “zaddies” (if you don’t know what a zaddy is by now just Google it, I refuse to do the emotional labor of explaining it to you). This aforementioned term is utilized in the opening lyric from their recently dropped single, “$Money$” wherein band vocalist and bassist Rex Malaria croons that “When the money comes in, you’ll call me zaddy.”
A couple more Stooges-esque BDSM references later, “$Money$” provides a colorful commentary on the power of cold hard cash, culminating with Rex Malaria stating that, with this forthcoming currency, YAASSS will be able to “put you in a cuckold and make you watch me” while also having grapes fed to them in a hot bath. Between the warm, vintage mastering of the track and Rex Malaria’s grandiose, theatric delivery, “$Money$” contains some serious nods to the legacy of glam and psych while embedded with a fun sense of sex positivity, bringing their classic influences into our contemporary social environment. It’s a raucous, raunchy ride for both old heads and cucks alike, and I think that’s beautiful.