Demon Queen

Did You Know?

• The album was conceived as a soundtrack for a seedy strip club in Zackey Force Funk's neighborhood, where he imagined the dancers to be satanic, like in the film From Dusk till Dawn.
• Tobacco called Exorcise Tape 'maybe the easiest album I've been a part of. It just flowed.'

Background

The two artists first met at a Black Moth Super Rainbow concert in San Francisco. The project was created remotely, with files sent over the internet between Pittsburgh and Tucson. Tobacco described it as the easiest album he had been part of, noting that he stepped back. Zackey Force Funk originally wrote about gangsta themes but rewrote the lyrics to be weirder and more out there, drawing on experiences around 29th Street in Tucson, strip clubs, and prison.

Release

The album was announced on April 23, 2013, with an original release date of July 9. The lead single "Rude Boy" featured Zackey's brother N8noface. An NSFW music video for "Demon Practice" was released on June 13. Opening track "Lamborghini Meltdown" had previously been a single on Tobacco's LA UTI EP in 2010. A music video for "Love Hour Zero" was released on September 17, featuring a human breast traveling through the ocean, desert, and space.

Style and reception

The album has been described as a blend of funk and hip-hop with a hypersexual approach to the demonic, similar to Grinderman. Tobacco's analog synths and hip-hop vocals appear on four of eleven songs, while Zackey Force Funk acts as hook-singer and hookup man, with guest rappers from his crew sounding at ease over the beats. Some critics found Zackey's falsetto thin and his lyrics repetitive, but praised Tobacco's production and the guest appearances. The music has been linked to Salem's witch house and XXYYXX's experimental bass music. Tracks include "Puni Nani," which recalls vintage Prince, "Bad Route," described as acid-addled G-funk, and "Love Hour Zero," compared to Boards of Canada on ecstasy. The album was called a warped electro-funk opus.