Set to release their debut single Do Yeah on February 15th, their sound is a psychedelic trip down the rabbit hole, a vision of the past swirling in every direction. Melbourne’s Bananagun (featuring members of Parnsip and Frowning Clouds) let it rip with a freaky groove from the start, there’s a hit of the gong and it’s all hypnotic from there.
Boon’s art-pop sound is in fine form on the kaleidoscopic “Jasmine Seeds,” a deeply layered effort that plays with repetition and looped vocals just beneath the song’s concurrent verses. It’s psychedelic pop with a lot to take in, but an easy atmosphere in which to do so, the effect nearly sounding like two songs played together in unison.
Tim Presley spent four years composing I Have To Feed Larry's Hawk. In the past he has created a trait d’union with musicians like Ty Segall and Cate Le Bon, creating projects like Drinks. Time passed is a pot in which to find the basis for a sound search, which in this case has turned on and come to life in the new and beautiful album.
Second single “Someday” is a song that contemplates the changes we all face as we get older and friendships fade but never disappear. It’s a (dare I say) radio friendly rocker… if the radio still played “rockers” and there’s more than a couple of blistering solos cut between the bouncing punk bass line.
Tørsö is a classically-styled hardcore band out of the Bay Area and Build and Break is their latest foray into fury. Each of the four tracks serves as a cohesive yet timeless statement. There is no sense of era – it sounds like the late-80s youth crew sound pioneered by bands like Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits as much as it does recent breakouts like Candy and Gouge Away.
The band will release Leaves on February 15th via Tell ‘Em Tapes, a collect of sunken sentiment and somber reflections bolstered by a rhythm section that slowly slinks toward the void… with an emphasis on slowly. The band moves at the speed of depression, lingering around in no particular rush or motivation.
This composition is the hero’s journey made audible; conflict and resolution in a delightful two act play; a spirited take on structure that wants to push you away as desperately as it wants your attention. The intro is so jarring I suspect most people will feel bamboozled and unable to continue, but I assure you, you absolutely should.
Arriving in the wake of “Cemetery Surf” and “A Passing Piece,” two twitchy, whirring pieces of dazzling shoegaze pop, Cathedral Bells keep up the hazy pace with “Time Capsule.” The track’s nostalgia-washed production lands somewhere between Day Wave’s detached effervescence and DIIV’s driving punk swell.
Introducing (or re-introducing) Community College, a brilliant lo-fi collective led by Horse Jumper of Love’s own John Margaris. Joined by his brother, Dan Margaris and Dimitri Giannopolous (also of HJOL), Community College occupies a similar space as their main act, offering warped to perfection pop songs with surreal yet relatable lyrics and earworm melodies tucked just under the fuzzy presence of the room.
