Houseshow’s 2-Minute Modern Classics: Drugdealer’s “The End of Comedy” (2016)
(Re-)introducing you to the best indie albums of the current era
by Katie Ingegneri
Welcome to the first edition of my new series, “Houseshow’s 2-Minute Modern Classics.” As you’ve probably noticed if you’re a fan of Houseshow, I tend to specialize in long-reads and deep-dives with interviews and explorations of my favorite indie music. But sometimes short-form content is fun to write and easy to read, so I thought I’d challenge myself to highlight some of my favorite indie albums of the past few years, within the limit of Medium’s minute-count listing at the top. Let’s see what happens.
Drugdealer’s 2016 album “The End of Comedy” is one of the best indie records to come out in the past few years, if not the 21st century so far. But half of the appeal lies in its timelessness, like a lost psychedelic-folk album you found in a record store bin somewhere, and features a stunning array of supporting acts, including Ariel Pink, Sheer Agony, Danny James, and the retro-voiced dazzler Weyes Blood, aka Natalie Mering, whose vibe is like a stoner Dusty Springfield.
Drugdealer is helmed by Michael Collins, a Los Angeles artist who was also of drug-themed band names Salvia Plath and Run DMT, and “The End of Comedy,” a sonic, kaleidoscopic collage of music, street sounds and rainfall, recordings about LSD, and hysterical laughter, is an entertaining invitation into Collins’ world. You’d think it would be hard to synthesize so many pieces into such a coherent whole, but Collins pulls it off masterfully. The music itself is a memorable collection of 60s/70s-style psychedelic folk-pop, enhanced by flute, horns, and strings, and feels as comforting and familiar as listening to your favorite Beatles songs.
I listened to “The End of Comedy” on a warm late-summer day walking into the sunset on Chicago’s 606 elevated bike trail, and it was truly the perfect mood setter. I can’t listen to the album without thinking of that day, and I don’t think I want to forget it. “The End of Comedy” is an album you should be listening to yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
