Debut Single Reveals Burgeoning Gowanus Indie Scene
Critical Praise for Lightouts:
"A glorious return to nineties guitar rock"
- BeaconPass
The Song:
"Robert Smith/Emily Haines, where are you?" Lightouts started out with that one simple question, posted as a want ad by group founder Gavin Rhodes near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York. The only sane person to reply to this query was vocalist Greg Nelson, a seasoned veteran of the NYC music scene (Lady Gaga opened for him at a Lower East Side club in 2007) who would prove to be just the type of person Lightouts needed. After a clear bond of musical genres, the two met up and started their auditory adventure together, Greg Nelson as the singer and Gavin Rhodes as the primary songwriter. The resulting sound emanating from Lightouts' sonic partnership is reminiscent of boozy 90's rock yet also garners comparisons to contemporaries The Hold Steady, Yuck, and Surfer Blood.
A loosely linked concept album – Want, a meditation on what it means to follow our instincts – is in the works and promises listeners both a slice of Gowanus and healthy servings of Lightouts steam-pressed beats, cauterized power chords and lean bass lines. In the months leading up to the unveiling of the album, the Gowanus duo is set to release a series of singles, and with a tip of the hat to an analogue era in the not-so-distant past, each single will feature both an A-side and two B-sides allowing the band to offer up songs complemented by experimentation into deep-cut covers of Joy Division, The Stone Roses and more.
Lightouts first single, "See Clear" opens with an earnest declaration – "We want it, oh god we want it all/ But we are hitting, now we are hitting walls." The lyric succinctly captures the essence of "See Clear," an essence that singer Greg Nelson explains is, "the challenge of seeking clarity in the often cloudy and blurred distinctions between good and bad, right versus wrong, and needs and wants." Nelson's odic battle with morality and Rhodes' delicate guitar strokes serve as the quiet before the storm, as the song slowly gathers momentum towards its anthemic chorus where subdued vocals become strident and guitars take a turn for the boisterous. The haziness of the chorus is offset by the lucidity of the verses – a juxtaposition built in by design by Nelson that gives listeners an aural ebb and flow of Lightouts' message. In the end, we all want to "see lights, see stars, see clear" – download the track for free today and experience clarity courtesy of Lightouts.
For more information on Lightouts please contact Michelle or Dan at Audible Treats.
The
Background:
Lightouts founder Gavin Rhodes started with a simple question: "Robert Smith/Emily Haines, where are you?" But this appeal to fans of The Cure and Metric didn't appear on Craigslist or in the Village Voice. The flyer was posted near the less-than-picturesque Gowanus Canal. Greg Nelson, a veteran of the NYC music scene, responded to the ad and the rest, as they say, is history. The pair exhibit a rare musical and stylistic cohesion: structured bass lines, waves of fuzzed out guitars and vaporous vocals put a new spin on the moody post-punk aesthetic of bands like Joy Division and Smashing Pumpkins circa Siamese Dream. A loosely linked concept album – Want, a meditation on what it means to follow our instincts – is in the works and in the months leading up to the unveiling of the album, the Gowanus duo is set to release a series of singles. With a tip of the hat to an analogue era in the not-so-distant past, each single will feature both an A-side and two B-sides allowing the band to offer up songs complemented by experimentation into deep-cut covers.
