Biography

What is at stake in the seduction of Kansas? The question rattles across the second LP from Washington, D.C. rock iconoclasts Priests. Seduction evokes pleasure, sex. Divorced from romance, it is a tactic of manipulation, a ploy in persuasion. The title—like Priests—is a moving target. Entering their eighth year as a band, Priests—drummer Daniele Daniele, vocalist Katie Alice Greer, and guitarist G.L. Jaguar—remain an inspired anomaly in modern music. The band who launched its own label, Sister Polygon Records, are living proof that it is still possible to work on one’s own terms, to cultivate one’s own world. Bred in punk, Priests play rock’n’roll that is as intellectually sharp as it is focused on pop’s thrilling pleasure centers, that is topical without sloganeering. Greer remains one of rock’s most evocative lyricists. The high-wire physicality of their live shows, the boldness of their Barbara Kruger-invoking visual statements, their commitment to cultural and aesthetic critique—it’s all made Priests one of the most exciting bands of their generation, subversive in a literal sense, doing things you would not expect. The Seduction of Kansas exists within the adventurous world its predecessor Nothing Feels Natural pried open. Its 10 pop songs are like short stories told from uncanny perspectives, full of fire and camp. They make up Priests’ most immediate and musically cohesive record, a bracing leap forward in a catalog full of them. - Jenn Pelly