Qwiet Type’s “Shakedown” is a New Wave Synth Funk Examination of Identity After Shedding Pop Culture References

On the “Shakedown” single Qwiet Type sounds like he sequestered himself for a couple of weeks with only a box of VHS tapes with recordings of early MTV videos and the entire discographies of Harry Nilsson, Sparks and LCD Soundsystem as companions. In a way it’s a sound akin to Gary Numan gone indie pop funk. The song’s distorted keyboard line and syncopated guitar line overlaid with a quirky synth figure traces the story of a person who may be singing to himself who needs a “shakedown” in search of his real identity under layers of crafted personae constructed from the fantasies of popular culture references and song lyrics. Its a deconstruction of the way many people latch on to manufactured culture as the basis for their own personality and asking, in a more creative way, who we really are when we shed what isn’t authentically ours and recognizing the importance of that discovery. Listen to “Shakedown” on Spotify.