Styrofoam Winos Got a Message From a Sex-Bot and Turned It Into Pure Choogle

Joe Kenkel re-downloaded Messenger for a Facebook Marketplace transaction, woke up the next morning to a notification that said “somebody wants to send you a message,” opened it, and found himself invited into a group chat called “Room Full of Passion 4635.” A sex-bot had found him. The phrase “chatroom of passion” immediately called out for a song. This is how Styrofoam Winos work.

The Nashville trio of Lou Turner, Trevor Nikrant, and Joe Kenkel release Any River on June 19 via Dear Life Records, and the final advance single is this infectious upbeat choogle — pulsing B-52s energy with a face-melting bass clarinet solo from Jim Marlowe (the sole non-Wino on the entire album). It originally started as a half-time country boogie before they sped it up and found the right version. You can hear why they made the call.

The Winos are experienced shapeshifters — touring members of Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band and MJ Lenderman and the Wind — and Any River was recorded in Louisville with Roadhouse bandmate Jim Marlowe producing. Three deeply creative musicians playing in service to each other, making music that winks at the canon while knowing it cold. Bonnie “Prince” Billy called it “the forever-uplift of gentle groove,” and that’s about right. Pre-order below then find a date on the July run.

Pre-order Any River ↗

1“Pearls”

2“BBQ”

3“Somebody Wants to Send You a Message”

4“I Felt You”

5“New Friend”

6“Swimminin”

7“Next Thing”

8“Off My Mind”

9“Just For You”

10“You’ll Never Take Me Alive”

11“Gettin’ Down”