Year of the Tape

Year of the Tape is Tape Lab in cover-band mode, which means it is not really a cover band at all. It is a collection of covers, interpolated jams, warped references, and familiar grooves dragged through the Tape Lab machinery until they come out a little stranger, a little heavier, and probably less legally convenient.

The album pulls from a wide spread of source energy: Ace of Bass, Steely Dan, the GUTS theme — twice, because apparently once was not enough — Bonnie Raitt, and Roger Troutman. These are not polite tribute tracks. They are reworked, re-grooved, and filtered through the collective’s usual habits: pocket first, weirdness second, explanation never.

There is a loose “special delivery” feeling running through the whole thing, like a mixtape dropped off at the wrong address but somehow exactly where it needed to land. Year of the Tape is playful, referential, groove-heavy, and fully aware that some of these ideas should not work together. Naturally, that is the point.

Special Tape Lab delivery. Handle irresponsibly.