In the final moments of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s 2017 Twin Peaks revival, a puzzled and temporally adrift Agent Cooper asks “What year is this?” The same question comes to mind while listening to the music of Brief Candles. The Milwaukee-by-way-of-Peoria-Illinois outfit has been releasing ethereal and hard-to-pin-down music for a full two decades. Call it shoegaze, call it dream-pop, call it psych; asking “What year is this?” in the middle of a Brief Candles record isn’t about identifying the time period of a genre, it’s about locating yourself in the record’s hazy swirl of guitars, cymbals, and effects.
Now, 21 years after the group’s debut, comes Unfinished Nature. The new record finds co-leads Jen Boniger and Kevin Dixon (along with bassist Drew Calvetti and drummer Radishbeat) conjuring up 10 sometimes noisy, sometimes delicate, always expertly crafted tracks. Opener “Remote View Finder” is skittish and scuffed-up and carried by Boniger’s vaporous vocals. Dixon sings lead on the shape-shifting and reverb-happy “Rewards;” “I Thought I Would Remember,” meanwhile, features the couple sharing vocal duties to beautiful effect. The catchy “Dimmer” has the ramshackle clatter of Yo La Tengo-indebted indie-rock, while lead single “Murky” is Brief Candles at their crunchiest. “I Will Follow U2” may be the straight-up prettiest song the band has ever produced, a delicate hymn (before it ends on a loud note) highlighted by harp-like guitar strums that continually nudge the song to the heavens.
Unfinished Nature is due October 25 on Milwaukee’s Triple Eye Industries. (Pre-order a 12-inch vinyl copy HERE.) Before that release, listen to the full album now, only on Milwaukee Record:
Want to see Brief Candles live? The group will celebrate the release of Unfinished Nature on Thursday, October 24, at the Bruce Street Anodyne. Haunter and Lightninging will play in support.
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