Sharkorama fires up his Wicked Machine in his driving, nostalgic new single and video — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The title track and latest single from the Chicago indie-rock slacker’s recently released album — which premiered exclusively HERE back in April — Wicked Machine is a high-spirited, dry-witted ode to the joys and sorrows of first cars, van ownership and the freedom of the open road. You’d never know that it was written and recorded — like the rest of the album — in singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Cody Knauer’s home between Christmas and New Year’s Eve in 2020.
“I wrote, performed, and produced Wicked Machine entirely in my unfinished Chicago basement,” Knauer explains. “I think the setting gives the album a raw, earnest quality to the tracks, and the tight window lends a sense of urgency.
“In this project, I sing songs about frivolities such as unrequited teenage love, first cars, and broken household appliances,” Knauer notes. “But I also use it to dabble in honest introspection and themes of religious disillusionment, aging, and alcoholism. It’s a joyous, shapeshifting indie/slacker/lo-fi/anything-goes-rock record with a lyrical focus that, even when the subject is serious, is committed to not taking itself too seriously.”
Song inspiration is everywhere for this observant artist. In the funky The Dishwasher Sounds Like Bob Seger, he finds music in the sounds of kitchen appliances. Some Days I Feel Like Pete Best gives a lo-fi treatment to feeling inadequate and comparing yourself to others. All My Favorite Bands is an upbeat indie-pop track Knauer wrote about “meeting the drummer from one of my favorite (disbanded) bands while he was working a retail job in suburban Chicago.
“These tracks are all about looking backward while living in the moment, embracing your flaws and regrets, and hoping that growing older means growing wiser,” explains Knauer. “I have a strong DIY aesthetic, and the scars of this approach are undeniably apparent but, hey, that’s life.”
Watch Wicked Machine above, hear the full album below, and follow Sharkorama on Twitter and Instagram.
