Rubber Band Gun is the project of producer/engineer/songwriter Kevin Basko. He releases his new album on Cashes out on November 2, via Earth Libraries. The album features a multitude of talent including Jonathan Rado, Sam France, Michael D’Addario, Brian D’Addario, Jackie Cohen, and Jonny Costa. Ahead of the album’s release, Rubber Band Gun have shared a visualizer for album track “Like That.” The song is filled with original hooks, with inspirations of 70s pop and elctronica will surely be on the top of everyone’s fall playlist.

Kevin Bashko on “Like That:”

Like That is a song about excuses. It’s all the reasons not to do something. It’s your own unreliable narration, pulling you away from something better. Recorded in Los Angeles and produced/recorded by Jonathan Rado, (Foxygen) “Like That” is another take on popular music stylings crafted swiftly and without hesitation. We built it in a day and what you hear on the record is our single days findings. The whole Cashes Out album is an attempt at quick under-baked pop ideas, plastic wrapped and ready for the free market. This song is the exemplar of that philosophy.

Cashes Out was written with the express idea that it would be Basko’s big leap into the conventionality of the music business. That said, rather than streamline or simplify for that pop approach, the record retains the multiplicity of ideas and tones that run through the Rubber Band Gun catalog. After opening with introspective piano, “My Time” erupts in a spray of ‘70s neon and the album never looks back.

That step out of time is particularly fitting, as holing up in his home studio of Historic New Jersey has meant that Basko’s music lives in its own context rather than any particular scene or trend. “I’m more of a fish out of water, but I’m creating my own scene that is without a true geographical home base,” he explains. “In some way, that makes me very Jersey-ish because I’m not giving up despite a lack of acceptance into a certain culture.”

A big part of that new scene comes from Basko’s close partnership with Rado. The pair’s seamless connection dates back to Basko’s time at Berklee College of Music, when he took a bus to New York City to see a Diane Coffee show. “We met that night and hit it off quickly. A few months later he asked me to join Foxygen,” Basko says. “He’s the only producer I’ve ever had for a Rubber Band Gun release, and I trust his ears endlessly.” In fact, in addition to producing and engineering Cashes Out, Rado helped round out arrangements on percussion and electronics.

Basko opened his laboratory up to further collaborators for the album, working closely with brothers Mike and Brian D’Addario, Sam France, and Jackie Cohen, as well as co-writing lyrics for the first time with bassist Johnny Costa. As a musician known for prolifically releasing material after locking himself away in his home studio, this more collaborative approach opened up Basko’s process. “It’s a pleasure to work with so many friends, and I learned a lot from watching them and hearing their feedback,” Basko says.

Rubber Band Gun
Cashes Out
Track List

1. My Time
2. Cash Out
3. Like That
4. Fear
5. Be Together
6. Catches A Trout