Labels: Mt. Home Arts
Review by: MH
This is one that has come out of nowhere for me and is now a current favourite with me having given it tons of listens already. Baby Mollusk play raw and drifting slow to mid-paced indie rock of note and to these ears the sound falls somewhere between a more lo-fi Speedy Ortiz and somewhere towards Manors. Not quite as sparse as Manors for the most part although if you want to hear more of that side of the band there is plenty on the Bandcamp page where only one of them is involved and it is really quite super. I’m getting distracted here but that is apparently how the band started out with just Rachel Gordon and much more of a bedroom-style sound. I’m also here to tell you what I think about this tape rather than how great their more sparse, earlier stuff is. This is more rounded, fleshed-out and brings the (indie!) rock and the songs work superbly with the full band treatment. Lyrically, the feel is sad but vivid and spiky at the same time and Rachel’s vulnerable vocals are great. The label prides itself on hand-made and hand-printed releases and the tape itself looks pretty marvellous with some lovely touches and a silkscreened case. It looks the part and sounds the part – great stuff.