by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Austin’s The Zoltars have been making jangly lo-fi rock for a decade at this point, and while members have come and go due to parenthood and relocation, their prattle on undeterred. Set to release their latest album, Telling Stories, with Austin Town Hall Records (Bones Garage, The Hermits, Flesh Lights) on the spookiest day of the year, October 31st the band stay true to the album’s title. With each song telling a unique story about life and the characters that come in and out of it.
The record’s lead single, “Listens to CDs” is a beautiful introduction to these vignettes, one that I’m sure nearly anyone who frequents Post-Trash can relate to, a song about using music as a cure for depression. Opening with a soft fuzz and swelling harmonized lyrics, the song starts big and eases itself into the verses, setting the scene Mary, our protagonist on the edge of her rope who finds comfort in listening to CDs (surely, you remember CDs). The lyrics are literal and comforting, the story an uplifting one of stereos full-blast and the sun shining yet another day. I feel better hearing it.