Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This week features No Wave new wave by Scissor Now!, metal from Jolly Jack and the Jazz Flutes, hard rock via The Wastelanders, spooky sounds courtesy Sean Curtis Patrick, two MEMCO techno/electronica releases, and a bonus pick: Same Eyes' "Such a Shame" video.

Scissor Now!, Oh, GOD! It's​.​.​. and Muzak Now: The Easy Listening Sounds of Scissor Now!
Ann Arbor's Scissor Now! is not only one of Washtenaw County's most unique bands, it's also one of the mostest funniest. The sax-bass-drums trio plays a kind of modernized No Wave new wave that is simultaneously quirky and heavy. Scissor Now!'s third album, Oh, GOD! It's..., also has a companion version: the MIDI-fied Muzak Now: The Easy Listening Sounds of Scissor Now! Both albums are available on vinyl, too.

Jolly Jack and the Jazz Flutes, Degenerate Era
Don't let the name fool you: Jolly Jack and the Jazz Flutes will likely not be playing Blue LLama anytime soon. This Ann Arbor band—or maybe just one guy—plays heavy music that touches on the various metals—death, black, thrash, and core—before ending with a ballad that's primarily acoustic.

The Wastelanders, "The Moment"
This Ypsilanti duo is gonna get tired of White Stripes comparisons—mostly because it's off-base. Yes, The Wastelanders are a guitar-drums duo, but their version of heavy music sounds more inspired by Black Sabbath and other '70s stoner acts rather than Jack & Meg White's former group. "The Moment" is the duo's latest single, but you can check out the band's 2020 demo here.

Sean Curtis Patrick, House of Barings SIMEX
This Ann Arbor ambient artist released a two-track single that's just in time to soundtrack your Halloween. Play this while handing out candy, scare the kids.

Kilala, Exposure Mix 034 and Various Artists, MEMCO Beattape 02: Musique Concrete
More goodness from the Michigan Electronic Music Collective (MEMCO). The first is in the form of the latest Exposure mix, this time by Kilala, who describes it thusly: "In this mix, slavoj meets techno party in a dan dan brr brr moment." I have no idea what that means, but I'm down to LEARN. The second release is the second beat tape from MEMCO and is built upon "the intent to compose with materials taken from an existing collection of experimental sounds." Unlike the Exposure mixes, which are generally DJ sets, this beat tape features original left-field electronica tracks inspired by musique concrète and features works by Koray Benli, Miguel Cisneros, Mark Kachkaev, Nathan Price, and Owen Blanchard.

Same Eyes, "Such a Shame"
Last week I wrote about the new two-song single by Ann Arbor synth-poppers Same Eyes, but I missed that there was also a music video for one of the tunes. Great jam and a cool vid created by a bunch of Southeast Michigan talents.

Christopher Porter is a library technician and the editor of Pulp.