Further Listening:

5. Blushing Search For The Universal Truth

We last featured Blushing, the Austin-based duo of husband-and-wife duos back in February around their release of the excellent EP, Weak. Since then the quartet have been squirelled away working on their upcoming debut album, and this week they’ve shared their brand new single The Truth, the first release on The Nothing Song Records label.

In many ways, The Truth picks up where Weak left off; rich, echoing drum hits, over-lain with swirling guitar lines and reverberating, shoegaze-inspired vocals. Produced by Elliott Frazier from Ringo Death Star, The Truth sounds if anything more lush, more dreamy and more intriguing than ever before. The avalanche of retro-janglers that came from everywhere a few years back may have thankfully slowed down, but with bands like Blushing, around there’s life in this shoe-gaze revial yet!

The Truth is out now via The Nothing Song Records. Click HERE for more information on Blushing.

4. Cass McCombs Is About To Blow-Up

Without wishing to start too hyperbolic, about a decade ago, Cass McCombs wrote one of our favourite songs ever, Dreams Come True Girl. Since then, very unfairly, we’ve pretty much compared everything to it, Cass has written some excellent records, but we never quite got over our Dreams Come True Girl: maybe this week is the first step to us finally moving on! Cass is set to return early next year with his ninth full-length album, Tip Of The Sphere, and this week has shared the first single from it, Sleeping Volcanoes.

Described as, “the thematic heart of the record”, Sleeping Volcanoes, is an exploration of the unknown feelings we pass on a day-to-day basis,  a reflection of, “people passing each other on the sidewalk unaware of the emotional volatility they are brushing past, like a sleeping volcano that could erupt at any moment”. Musically, it’s arguably Cass at his most straight-forward; from the arpeggiated guitar opening, it bristles with energy, a prominent bassy-strut providing much of the energy, as Cass’ vocal remains as relaxed and perfectly lackadaisical as ever. Throughout the track he pulls the listener back to the same repeated refrain, “all over the world”, almost asking us to consider every possible meaning to such an everyday phrase. Clever, articulate, beautiful stuff, Cass McCombs is an old-hand at this record making business, and all the better for it.

Tip of the Sphere is out February 8 via ANTI- Records. Click HERE for more information on Cass McCombs.

3. pronoun, Pro Bed Making, Pro Really Good Songs

pronoun is the musical monniker of Alyse Vellturo. The Brooklyn based songwriter emerged back in 2016 with her debut EP, There’s No One New Around You, “an ode to the Tinder message one receives once they’ve reached the end of all eligible contenders on the app”. Continuing her dissection of modern dating, this week Alyse has shared her new single, You Didn’t Even Make The Bed, the first taste of a debut album, due in the Spring.

You Didn’t Even Make The Bed is a frustrated blast of anger, aimed in the direction of an ex who moved out and left the place in a tip to boot, “I just wanted to scream at the sky, when it was the final straw. It transitions from the sad, defeated phase of a break up in to the angry one. This whole record addresses that phase, the one where you’re like “really…REALLY?!”. Not only does the track lyrically rant and rave, musically too there’s plenty of rage on show. Recalling acts like Soccer Mommy or Waxahatchee, there’s a wonderful blend of lo-fi guitar twang and pop-driven melodies, as Alyse sings, “keep my mouth shut, bite my tongue cause, everything I wanted to say’s about to come pouring out”, barely holding her emotions from building to a howling rage. Raw emotion with a pop sheen, pronoun could be onto something huge.

pronoun’s debut album is out early 2019. Click HERE for more information on pronoun.

2. We’re Crushing On Crushing

To be honest we don’t know an awful lot about Crushing. They’re from Brighton, they contain members of Personal Best, Colour Me Wednesday and Muncie Girls, and they’ve got some sort of album coming out at some point. That’s about it, so frankly it’s lucky the music does the talking for itself.

Crushing have this week shared a new single, Lost, and it’s b-side, Cry. The band have suggested Lost is, “about being a displaced arthropod in New York City”, so far so the plot of Home Alone 2. Musically, Crushing feel like natural heirs to Trust Funds’ bedroom-emo crown; prominent guitars sit atop gentle drum-beats, as the warm fuzz of vocals, just about audible, find solace in sadness as they sing, “I am grateful to be alive 
despite feeling very dead inside”. The whole thing peaks at a stellar finale as the guitars distort into bombastic riffing and the vocals become a distant howl, “despite leaving me alone I still think you’re the only one I need”. If you’re crushing but not quite crushed yet, they might just be your new favourite DIY-pop band.

Lost is out now. Click HERE for more information on Crushing.

1. Say No To Nanami Ozone

Nanami Ozone, might just be our favourite band from Phoenix, Arizona, and we’ve only heard two tracks by them. The quartet released their debut album, Desire, back in 2016, and have this week returned with not one, but two new tracks from their upcoming second record, NO, out early next year on Tiny Enginers.

The two tracks, Alone and 3 Mile Drive, showcase two different sides of the eclectic noise-makers repetoire. 3 Mile Drive is a bruising assault of sound, as thunderous over-driven guitars chug, layered vocals yelp and snarl, and snare drums are slapped with ear-shattering intensity. Our favourite of the two is Alone, with a touch of Forth Wanderers it combines easy, almost-slacker guitars with a rhytmic intensity and in the repeated refrain, “I don’t want to be with you, but I don’t want to be alone too”, one of the year’s least romantic lyrics. Great band, strange name, Nanami Ozone have got us thoroughly intrigued.

NO is out early 2019 via Tiny Engines. Click HERE for more information on Nanami Ozone.

Header photo is Nanami Ozone by Charles Darr – https://www.chardarr.com