Will Schube still has a D4L poster hanging on his wall.
I can still feel the Laffy Taffy I got lodged into my braces as a thirteen year old. Like a vibration you swear is a text but turns out to be nothing, again, I get the phantom feeling of taffy deep within my gums. I’ve never encountered a black Laffy Taffy flavor—and perhaps I’ve just revealed myself to be a poser if such a flavor exists—but it sounds disgusting. Black Taffy (real name Donovan Jones), the newest signee to LEAVING Records, is very much not disgusting. His first single with the label, “Geraldine,” would make your orthodontist proud.
Utilizing a hypnotic harp sample bolstered by a boom-bap backdrop, “Geraldine” lilts along all woozy and melancholy, floating along complacently before expanding outwards thanks to expertly layered samples that build and build, occasionally interrupted by a half-time drum break. It’s exceptional in its patience, the rare first single not eager to do too much and for that reason, sticks out for being just right. Black Taffy’s “Geraldine” is gonna get stuck in your head. Just be glad it’s not in your teeth.
