Lures on Fin Records

If there's one thing I've found to be consistent about Fin Records it's their manic release schedule that is impossible to keep up with and that I'm always going to be surprised about their latest release. From avant garde composer David Hahn to the post punk surf sound of this single from Lures. If anything they possibly use Seattle as a loose thread to hold their roster together but they've become an eclectic label that is interested in following whatever is interesting to founder Christian Fulghum as long as the band completely maintains their vision in packaging and sound. What a compromise.

A chorus effect reverb surf sound opens A-Side's "Dizzy" with tight doubled snare and tom, hitting all three melancholy chords in a row right out of the gate. It has that distanced feel of something dark and halting, like Jared from the Zoltars, it's a post punk sound but these guys are delivering it smooth with a lounge relaxed jitter. Sam's vocals follows that guitar melody from his folding chair sitting on the beach - or better yet one of those bars at the edge of the sand that has a couple of beers in a can and rum, nothing exotic. Deliberately fluttering off key a second, Lures have that Ski Lodge, Dogday or Drums indie pop where effortless melodies are the catch of the day. Maybe it's this snowfall but they're that sort of memory of last summer through a scratched up viewmaster slide. Like an old Smiths track, this narrator is having a tough time getting excited in the modern world, no matter how light this main melody is going. The lyric works against this minimal pop sound that you don't hear much anymore, pushing the speed and rhythm of the optimistic rock trio.

B-Side's "Closer" comes in with a heavier echo sound and a tight distance on the drums while they really reach for these higher melodies on guitar so Sam can work this baritone vocal that barely leaves it's narrow range so that when he does he means business. Like the Soft Pack or The Johnny Ill band, he's just stating the facts. That's all you've got sometimes...picking up with staccato strumming and focus on that high hat, the New Order style guitar chorus between the verse, like an updated Psychedelic Furs, they have all the pop elements working for them while landing on the post punk side with odd high melodies forcing the guitar to work in new lighter ways, turning against distortion, they remake the guitar into an airy element of the proceedings. Good to hear a full length is in the works with Fin this year.

Get this from Fin Records. 12% off everything over there for a few more days. Thank the superbowl.