B-Side To Second Single Explores The Psychedelic Side Of Fuzz Pop
Critical Praise for Lightouts:
“...a Gowanus-based duo that sounds a little like what JAMC might sound like with Robert Smith fronting. And if you listen real close, you’ll hear an honest to goodness guitar solo. Chain me down, Martha!."
My Old Kentucky Blog
"Lightouts is a throwback to the joyous, left-of-the-dial guitar rock of the bygone early Nineties."
- PrefixMag
"The first Lightouts single, "See Clear" ... is an express train into jaaaaaaaam city."
- AudioMuffin
The Song:
Lightouts has been compared to just about every notable 80's / 90's post punk band there is, which is understandable to a degree. Though their sound is reminiscent of music that was coming out in the early part of the 90's, by no means does that make them a revival band. Their exploration of grainy guitar hooks and unique vocal styling has set Lightouts apart from other contemporary indie bands that traded in their guitars for synthesizers and could be the reason why they are picking up steam in the blogosphere, including recent features in My Old Kentucky Blog's New Band Smell column, Pretty Much Amazing, and a music sync with Nissan.
Their latest release, a B-side to their single "And It Comes And Goes", entitled "Faces, Places" continues along the path of guitar hooks and vocal leads that the band has paved for itself. "Gavin makes the music and I just respond to the mood with lyrics," says lead singer Greg Nelson. " The song structure itself is definitely not standard issue. Gavin provided a basic instrumental demo, which I used to craft lyrics. I believe he assumed that we would adjust the structure to something more conventional but I actually really felt that this lack of a common song structure makes it a really unique song - although it might drive some purists nuts."
"Faces, Places" opens up with a lone guitar hook from Gavin Rhodes that seems to rise and converge with every chord. A driving bass line soon follows the guitar, and the two instruments pair up to garner a more complete sound. Greg Nelson's unique vocals appear to almost quiver in the early parts of the song, but quickly gains force as the track hits the chorus. There is a symbiosis between Rhodes' guitar and Nelson's vocals that is always apparent on Lightouts songs, and "Faces, Places" is no exception to the rule. There is a build up of energy that lurks in each verse, only to explode during chorus breaks. Though the bones of the song are entrenched in grizzly and hypnotic guitar lines, there is a psychedelic element to this track that separates it from other Lightouts songs. Whether it's the unique song structure or the melancholy lyrics it's hard to tell, but all the different elements of "Faces, Places" come together to create a sort of fuzz pop that hasn’t been explored in music for a long time.
For more information on Lightouts please contact Gavin or Megan 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.
