Heartbreaking Bravery

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Tag: Wolf Prize

Yucky Duster – Gofer (Stream)

yucky duster

Rounding out the first week and a half of great songs in April is a strong group that  include memorable tracks from Mean Jeans, Wolf Prize, Outer Spaces, Erin Tobey, Spice Boys, Museum Mouth, The Blind Pets, and Psychic Heat. While all of those songs warrant as many repeat plays as they wind up receiving, it was the latest from Yucky Duster — an insanely thoughtful punk-leaning powerpop number called “Gofer” — that grabbed this post’s feature.

Opening with only vocals and an intuitive bass figure “Gofer” could have gone just about any direction, making the band’s meticulous direction of the song nothing short of spectacular. From the nervy riffing that propels the verses to the doo-wop backing vocals, every choice involved in “Gofer” elevates the song into the realm of modern classics. The production on “Gofer” is constructed in a way that reveals Yucky Duster’s DIY ethos while simultaneously providing just enough grit to wind up enhancing the song’s inherent pluckiness.

On a lyrical level, the song’s an examination of the space that exists between two people who are thinking about the same thing but only one can find the courage required for total commitment. On the narrative plain, the POV falls squarely to the latter person of that scenario, the one who’s desperately hoping for some sort of change. “Gofer” paints a stark counterbalance to its giddy musical composition with the sheer weight of its central content. Despite that difference (and, partially, because of that dichotomy), everything on “Gofer” clicks and proves, in under two minutes, that Yucky Duster are one of today’s most exciting emerging bands. Don’t let this one fall off by the wayside, it’s far too good to be forgotten.

Listen to “Gofer” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on the band.

SPORTS – The Washing Machine (Stream)

SPORTS

As the week picks up, so too does the new release schedule. Great new songs saw first light today, featuring material from the following artists: OBN III’s, Minden, Grass House, Wolf Prize, OBNOX, and Places To Hide. Music videos fared just as well with some tantalizing clips that included Fake Palms’ oneiric “Sparkles“, BEAK >’s arresting “The Broken Window“, Flesh World’s tranced-out “Just To Tear Me Down“, Rocky Votolato’s deeply impressive “Hospital Handshakes“, and Communions’ striking “Forget It’s A Dream“. Rounding things out were the full streams, which featured fantastic entries from The Glow (a band led by LVL UP‘s Michael Caridi), Sloth, Adult Mom, Reservations, and Soviet X-Ray Record Club. Even in that slew of genuinely outstanding material, today’s featured item- SPORTS’ “The Washing Machine”- managed to stand out.

For a few years now, SPORTS have been kicking out the kind of scrappy punk-infused basement pop that dominates Salinas’ impressive roster (Swearin’, Radiator Hospital, All Dogs, Purple 7, etc.). The band recently signed with Father/Daughter Records (who have earned themselves a wealth of love from this site) for the release of their forthcoming full-length, the genuinely outstanding All of Something (which was, incidentally, engineered by none other than Kyle Gilbride of Swearin’). The band’s already teased the record with the energetic “Saturday” and offered another look earlier today with the release of “The Washing Machine”.

A touch more grounded than “Saturday”, the band’s latest is a show of both maturation and force, emphasizing a subtle southern sensibility (in a manner not too dissimilar from Hop Along) to produce one of their best songs to date. Like a (thankfully) increasing number of bands in the DIY fold, the band gets a lot of mileage from fixating on elements that constitute life’s minutiae rather than opting to retread the same tired territory. While the overarching narrative still hinges on a relationship, it’s the way the relationship is colored that sets the song apart from a lot of the band’s contemporaries. Balanced, nuanced, and unerringly heartfelt, SPORTS pack enough punch, grit, and scuzz into this 3 minutes and change number to run away with today’s featured spot.

Listen to “The Washing Machine” below and pre-order All of Something from Father/Daughter ahead of its October 30 release date here.