Duo whitepicketfence appeared last year featuring Chris Lauterbach (Your Majesty) on guitar/vocals and Katy Otto (Trophy Wife, Bald Rapunzel, Del Cielo, etc.) on drums/vocals when the tracks from this 7" started to hit Bandcamp over the summer. I would almost never opt to quote a promo onesheet, but the following description of their work is extremely cool:
...songs of the quiet desperation and seething fury that modern life provokes. A fuck you to the American Dream is their love letter to all that is human, all that is flawed, and all that rages against the predetermined path that we are taught instills "happiness."
The four songs total a bit over 12 minutes and are tough to describe. I could imagine the material being tagged "slowcore" since certain elements bring to mind stuff like Codeine, but the arrangements can be unusual and kind of build in one direction without much cyclical repetition. Being a duo, the recordings are certainly spacious (at times as intentional texture—the faint hum of an amp or extended sizzle of a cymbal), but at times there are some layered guitars, so it's not just ultra-stripped down; and both musicians contribute vocals, ranging from half-spoken to subdued singing as well as some shouting. Thus, stylistically you'll pick up on emo/indie, borderline sludgy noise rock, post-rock, and associated realms in between and beyond.
The tunes on side A—"Regret" and "Cold"—possess that certain sludgy heaviness; while the tracks on side B—"How" and "Why"—are a smidge more melodic and tend to catch my ear the most. Perhaps side A is more disquieted anger, with B delving into disconcerted sadness...
The physical 7" is starkly presented on an icy clear aqua vinyl with simple white labels including minimal information—band name, label logo, catalog number, song titles—in a clear sleeve with no additional packaging. A bare simplicity befitting of the music, on some level.
I'm not sure what the future holds for this project, but I dig it. Hopefully there will be more to explore at some point...
Get It
- Exotic Fever Records (7"—add to cart in the left sidebar)
- Bandcamp (7", mp3)
- Apple Music (stream)
- Spotify (stream)
