Hear Andy Kim’s Dreamy Reworking of Sixties Hit ‘Shoot ‘Em Up, Baby’
Last month, Brill Building songwriter Andy Kim — the man behind the Archies’ classic “Sugar, Sugar” and his own chart-topper “Rock Me Gently” — revealed that he had joined forces with Broken Social Scene founding member Kevin Drew for a collaborative LP called It’s Decided. The album’s first single has arrived, and it’s actually a re-recording of a track Kim released in 1968.
“Shoot ‘Em Up, Baby,” originally off the singer-songwriter’s 1968 LP How’d We Ever Get This Way, is presented here with heavy reverb and avant-garde orchestral flourishes while still maintaining its bubblegum soul. Check out the track below via Pitchfork:
Kim co-wrote and produced It’s Decided with Drew, with contributions from Tortoise’s John McEntire, Do Make Say Think’s Ohad Benchetrit and the Stills’ Dave Hamelin. As Pitchfork reports, one of the album’s tracks, “Who Came First,” was “rewritten from the Broken Social Scene archives.” On another song, “Sail On,” Kim sings, “I visited my gravesite, to see what it was like/You know, I kind of liked it.” It’s Decided will come out on February 24th.
In December, Rolling Stone spoke to Kim about his impact on Drew and the unique partnership they’ve formed. “I know Kevin talks a lot about how I’ve helped him,” Kim said. “I never helped him; I just reminded him of who he was: this fabric of a genius, poetic artist that is not around a lot. Those elements he has are pretty fragile and ephemeral in the world. So for me to have come from the wonderful learning platform of the Brill Building to meet with Kevin, there’s a sameness to it — there are no rules.”