Naked Roommate : Pass the Loofah
Oakland/Berkeley music collective Naked Roommate fashions weird jams that move along with squishiness. Thrift store electronic gizmo quirkiness, bizarre horn lines, and sublime arrangements of instrumental airy jams that speak DEVO to D TRAIN—soundtracking the daily hustle of surviving “the failures of disaster capitalism.”
Started in 2018 with a cassette release by the duo of real-life partners Andy Jordan and Amber Sermeno, soon they brought in other members Michael “Mig” Zamora and Alejandra Alcala for their 2020 electro jams in the boneyard release Do The Duvet, which popped up during COVID with an “I don’t care where the funk goes” attitude. Perfect for those times—reckless abandonment in music felt like breathing without a mask on.
2024’s Pass The Loofah, featuring members from East Bay groups The World and Blues Lawyer, creates an asinine, post-punk, funky, and politically charged sound that deserves to be heard. They lean in on that “Downtown 81” vibe while glorifying West Coast cheekiness. Naked Roommate deals quirk-and-jerk bump tales of elevator pitches from maybe, shrug emoji, future paramours, songs dedicated to taking the “Bus,” the ultimate act of getting to know your community at all hours of the day/night, and indie-pop confections designed for dancing, sweating out the struggle, and just fuggin’ breathing for a sec.
Assuming the album title is a jab at the socioeconomic haves and mostly have-nots, loofahs list for $25-$100 on Etsy, while Bay Area rents, naked or clothed, average about $3,800 as of October 2024, which is $1,750 more than the national median; Roommate chooses to turn up instead of distilling into Captain buzzkill. With obvious nods to A Certain Ratio, Liquid Liquid, ESG, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Daft Punk/MGMT, and/or Derrick Carter—these punk jams stage their outrage using beats, blips, and bass: This wide-reaching collective understands that through movement we are united, connected, and witnessing the same injustice.
Label: Trouble in Mind
Year: 2024
Similar Albums:
Naked Roommate : Pass the Loofah
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
John-Paul Shiver has been contributing to Treble since 2018. His work as an experienced music journalist and pop culture commentator has appeared in The Wire, 48 Hills, Resident Advisor, SF Weekly, Bandcamp Daily, PulpLab, AFROPUNK and Drowned In Sound.