(cover art by Bethünni Schreiner)
This is truly an iconic day in
Both tracks are relatively low-key, compared to the mind-melting shredding on the bands' latest records. However, the pair of trios go out of their comfort zones on their respective song.
On "Caffeine," niiice. brings their classic boozy-depressive focus to another ode of exhaustion. Roddie Gadeberg reaches into his falsetto at one point and really expands his voice into new non-screaming realms (there's some screamed double-track vocals, of course). For most of the first two minutes, Gadeberg locks in with the bass and drums. The riffs are a solid as a stalactite, but after about two-thirds of the song the stalactite falls.
A subdued harmony of trumpets comes in for a catchy brass interlude (what's a punk song without some...brass?). However, it isn't until the last minute of the song that the band segues into what might be their most experimental 60-seconds yet. Drummer Sage Livergood lets loose on the concept of time and becomes an earthquake on the kit. Effects that would sound more at home in an Animal Collective song swirl about like a dark purple haze. Notes shift in and out of this dimension. Someone's lost their head and is searching for it in the dark (while drunk, high, and on Ambien). Finally, the head is reattached and set on straight, just in time to realize that there's only 30-seconds left of the song. Double time! niiice. crams in one more chorus before dashing out the door into the night. They're gone now. Oh no.
Gully Boys float by on a razor's edge on "Little Brother." For such a melodically sweet song, there is a surprising undercurrent of menace. Cracks form on the porcelain exterior. It's Gully Boys as minimalists. Only the essentials are left behind, and they are kept close. Kathy Callahan gives a daring and subdued vocal performance, with haunting echoes from the other Boys. When the song's wave begins to crest, it threatens to become a tsunami; instead, it fakes out and stays low with Callahan's cries of "Was I?" soaring above.
Compared to the sarcastic basement-punk of Not So Brave, this is positively pensive. The goal is no longer to make a cacophony and drown everything else out. "Little Brother" is a condensed shot of pure emotion. It's like a musical version of the bolt pistol from No Country for Old Men firing in slow motion.
niiice. and Gully Boys transcend their previous sound palettes while still staying within it. It's everything you could want from a presumably interstitial release (new albums soon?). They're a pair of psychedelic new tunes from a pair of fantastic bands. Get both songs from Bandcamp below, or stream them on your service of choice.
The boys in niiice. also made an idyllic lil' video for "Caffeine" while they were on tour in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Iowa. It was shot by Beck Slack. Bassist Abe Anderson (side note: he also recorded the track!) almost eats a flower, Sage drums with some sticks, Roddie almost drowns. It's a good one. Check it out below.
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