Funky Was the State of Affairs, Fergus & Geronimo's newly released sophomore album on Hardly Art, takes a few wide swings towards a more resolute sound, and manages to land most of its punches in the gut and jaw. It's a different swing than 2011's Unlearn, which is essentially what they did. Denton's Andrew Savage and Jason Kelly are still the core, but augmenting their lineup with sax and synth has pushed them into some cracked, ro-man-tick future-noise gutter, which is a good thing.
In contrast, the video for "Roman Tick" feels very much plucked from the past, like something 120 Minutes would have aired at 1:30 a.m. More bands should film videos at the mall in 2012. They are America's cultural shrines, after all.
