Cities Aviv has the ability to assault his listeners with sound. His live shows are visceral experiences, and in the notes for his new release “URL IRL,” we get some clues as to how that came about. Gavin Mays fronts the project, and its roots are “totaly Memphis outsider art…I come from all of Memphis. I used to front a metallic hardcore band called COPWATCH…we were stubborn and out of place amongst the more revered garage punk scene.”
Mays moved towards rap music in the years following, and his latest cut “URL IRL” is a distorted throwback to those early days of hip-hop. Big vocal samples fight for center stage with lyrics and a delivery reminiscent of the Furious Five. In that regard it’s not strictly hip-hop—the song owns all 2 minutes of its runtime without lapsing into a verse-chorus back-and-forth.
As for the title, Mays says “URL IRL is a pseudonym for YOU IN REAL and I IN REAL. To be fully realized. The internet enables interaction between conscious bodies unlike ever before. This in turn hosts unveiling of each one’s true self.” Deep thoughts out of Memphis. See if you hear what he’s talking about. Stream “URL IRL” below:
