After a solid foundation of singles and EPs going back to 2023, Starcleaner Reunion have outdone themselves with their luminous debut LP, Umbrella. Their indie-pop/motorik infusion balances retro-futuristic nostalgia with Euro-chamber pop arrangements, summoning the likes of Stereolab and Broadcast.
When he’s not rocking in the alt-country band Friendship, Peter Gill is the primary songwriting force of power-pop rock unit 2nd Grade. On their latest, the band seemingly takes The Beach Boys’ “California Girls” and stretches it across an entire record, investigating the unending world of Girls and Boys.
Scour Order is another installment in a long body of work defined by virtuosic instrumentality, shrieks, and growls, but it stands on its own within their vast discography. It’s still a riff-labyrinth cemented on trembling ground but there’s a steadiness that gives the sense that the band wants the edifices they’re building to stand tall.
