Labels: Don Giovanni
Review by: MH
This one’s kind of crept out of the woodwork as I haven’t heard this band in years and the album came out at the start of the year. If you’ve been paying more attention than I have you’ll have heard something more recent than “People Don’t Believe Me” which came out in 2011 as they have put out a couple of releases since then although not since 2014 – not according to the Bandcamp page at least. This latest release kind of sounds like I remember Giant Peach to sound. It’s fuzzed-up indie rock that is driven, raw and melodic. Lyrics are interesting and full of imagery while vocal duties are shared again between Frances Chang and Mike Naideau. The melodic side is contrasted with a not unhealthy amount of distortion that fits in well with 90s indie rock and the bands I loved at school – Dinosaur Jr., The Breeders and the rest. You can trace their influences back a bit earlier to the driven side of Husker Du too. Standout tracks for me are the opener and “Deserted” which is almost a pop song under all that fuzz. Nice to see this band is still active and I think it’s fitting that this came out on Don Giovanni as their sound fits in well with the likes of label-mates California X and Screaming Females.