Even if their music was absolute crap, Unknown Mortal Orchestra would deserve an award for a fantastic band name alone. However, this is pretty irrelevant because Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s music is in fact quite awesome. Like, really, really awesome. “So Good at Being in Trouble” absolutely jams, so much so that it took a few tries to get through the entire song because I kept rewinding back to hear the opening hook one more time.
Their style is typically a lo-fi, psychedelic rock type, and there is not doubt that it exists here. But “So Good at Being in Trouble” has a vintage R&B feel to it that knocks the socks off their other stuff. The funky bass line allows bassist Jake Portrait to show the world just what he can do (which is a lot) and I have nothing but love for the lines, “She was so good at being in trouble / so bad at being in love”. Definitely an experiment gone right, the mix of old and new makes the vibe of the entire song makes me want to waltz around my kitchen in a bittersweet kind of way.