Sunday 2 March 2014

Eternal Summers - Gouge

Single review by soul1@thesoundofconfusion.com


It can get repetitive when talking about the same genres all the time, and it's probably quite repetitive the way we keep talking about this shoegaze revival, which has now made the genre much bigger than it was first time around. It's not a figment of our imagination and it's not isolated to a few bands; it really is spreading. Even some bands who have previously had a sound that only touched on this style have now thrown themselves at it fully, with the most obvious example being Yuck. Initially a duo, Eternal Summers have preferred to consider themselves a rock n' roll band, albeit a modern one; perhaps indie-rock would be the most fitting description, but that might have to change. Since their 2012 debut album, the duo have enlisted Jonathan Woods as a bass player, expanding them to a trio. It would be difficult to describe him as the new boy, because in a bizarre twist of fate, he knew each of the others before they knew each other - it was him that introduced initial pairing of Nicole Yun and Daniel Cundiff.

A third album, 'The Drop Beneath', is released this week, and I'm afraid that "rock n' roll" can only be a loose match at best. Its first single, 'Gouge', is about as classic as shoegaze can get. So be prepared for the jangle of the guitar to be roughed up a bit so that it now emits a fuzzier texture, expect a full, slightly dreamy sound overall, and also ready yourself for vocals that have been taking evening classes at the Elizabeth Fraser school of ethereal loveliness. There's no real getting away from the fact. Maybe the rest of the album will owe a huge debt to The Stray Cats, but somehow we doubt that. There can be no complaints from this end though; 'Gouge' is a pacey, tingly and mysterious indiepop song that hasn't woken from its slumber and is having wildly vivid and exciting dreams where the world is a bit skewed, and that's not a bad place to be.



Eternal Summers' website

Buy the album

Catch them live:

Mar 04 Baby's Alright, Brooklyn, NY
Mar 05 Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia, PA
Mar 06 U Street Music Hall, Washington, DC
Mar 07 Baltimore Popfest, Baltimore, MD
Mar 08 The Southern, Charlottesville, VA
Mar 09 Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC
Mar 11 The White Water Tavern, Little Rock, AR  
Mar 18 Off Broadway, St Louis, MO
Mar 19 Exit In, Nashville, TN
Mar 21 Bottletree, Birmingham, AL
Mar 22 Athens Slingshot, Athens, GA  
Mar 23 The Earl, Atlanta, GA





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