Slow Animal on Jax Art

I previewed this single from Slow Animal on Jax Art a while back and I finally got to spinning it this weekend...

The A-Side, The FUNsun, really nails the beach reverb with the unnatural volume, plus the mass of No Age… except that Slow Animals harmonies sound a little sad…it's not an angelic pet sounds harmony, they hit those minor chord harmonies (what do I know) that come from those monks who take a vow of silence except for their songs for God that sound like death. A general air of sadness to this track.... event as it keeps growing. Maybe it's the distance, singing from way back in that cave, or I'm really projecting.
I also made a note about it being "a catchier beach fossils" and I think what I meant is it's got that dreamy washed out haze sound, but it's fast and frantic, there's nothing relaxing about these guys. There's a sense of urgency to hearing through some kind of filter and they thoughtfully included the earplugs before it even starts playing.

Like I mentioned before…it's very similar to Wavves and I hope that reference doesn't haunt them too much, it's got the same big sickeningly catchy distortion, but the vocals are more buried or something. It's just a great sound that isn't going to go away…and it shouldn't... It's not the sound of the first Wavves album I'm sick of. They've got all the hollow sounding fuzz and stomping distortion with high pitch ooooo waaaa ooooo's you would expect from the early era Nathan stuff.
But it's a quintessential A-Side. You can't fault them for choosing this for a first impression. It's exactly what you would expect from a 7" single for a band without anything else yet to their name. Something to play over and over.

The B-Side, "Saturday Mourning" gives you a little bit of an idea of where they're going to take this layered wet echo. It's punched up on this side with sloppier vocals and the classic, "I'm bored" aesthetic. The harmonies are barely here….it's definitely not as surf on this side but more leaning heavily on indie rock borrowing from the guitar-centric bands of the 90's.
It's a succinct sentiment with all of that distance sonically but without the tired vapid content. The sun, surfing, all of that shit. It's observing more of those teenage ideals that hurt. Breaking down the world again. It's got that realism that Best Coast probably could do with more of. It's even echoed thematically in the vocals which again aren't ever sickeningly sweet. The right amount of hazy, catchy rock that deceptively sounds like it couldn't give a shit…. But honestly, not care a damn about trying for a sound or posture.

I'm surprised there are still copies of this, but that won't last...I have high hopes for someone else finally taking this sound a new place and I'm looking ofrward to finding out Dec 16th at Glasslands.