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| Return was self released in 2016. |
And sometimes it giveth and makes you shake your head in disbelief that you haven't already stumbled upon a group. I don't even remember what record I was listening to in the late summer -- maybe the latest Quivers album or maybe the new Film School -- that ultimately fed into a blue smiley song from its second LP, return. But I doubled back and gave "bird" a couple more spins before I was won over enough to give the full album a go.
Throughout return, the vocals often hover in the fuzzy ether as an instrument but not a predominant one, in the same way they often do on any number of My Bloody Valentine cuts. Yet, this is a tough record to place musically. There is a very definite fuzzy (yeah, I used that term again) heaviness wedded to a jangly pop edge with an occasional synth layered in that makes the whole thing the musical equivalent of a bike with a warped wheel that is also out of alignment. It works, and works well even, but there is something just a little off about it. However, it is off in the most beautiful way.
The aforementioned "bird" and "tree" serve as bookends on the record and are the clear standouts on an album that doesn't mess around. Nine tracks in total clock in at just more than 20 minutes. They almost all arrive with a sort of reckless abandon (raw and urgent), make their point and head out the door, often in under two minutes. It is all just enough to make you want to listen again.
...and again.
Sure, I'm late to the party, but return was one of the happiest of my accidental discoveries in all of 2021.
