Track Of The Day THE PLEASURE ROUTINE
Formed in 2012 by high school classmates singer and songwriter Kevin Sofsrud, guitarist Eric McDonald, and bassist Kirk Jacobs, mainly influenced by The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Velvet Underground, to shift away from their previous punk incarnation, Bay Area‘s The Pleasure Routine soon expanded their ranks with the addition of the imaginative guitarist Nathan Tang and soulful vocalist Lauren Kopp to release their acclaimed debut album “Sugar Mountain” in 2016, with The Brian Jonestown Massacre affiliated Ricky Maymi along with engineer Greg Ashley (Gris Gris) at the production helm.
An intoxicating blend of languid Folk/Country, reverberated Psychedelia and boisterous Indie Rock, deeply rooted in the 60s/70s past, shrouded in the visceral and romantic noir songwriting of Nick Cave or Rowland S. Howard, to create a timeless moody and evocative guitar-driven sound that teeters between haunted introspective ballads and energetic abrasive rock’n’roll surges, fueled by raw and passionate male/female vocal interplays.
The Oakland-based band make a surprising comeback with a new 2-track single “About Carrie,” and a slight line-up change with fresh vocalist Paola Pruett-Vergara and drummer Robbie Pruett (of For Joris.)
The title track is a warm, stirring, evocative slice of Americana-dusted jangling pop wistfulness, with a hypnotic attack reminiscent of early The Go-Betweens, to carve up rippling and poignantly sparkling sheets of glistening and twangy guitar melodies with thrumming strums, vibrantly swaying, layered with flickering fluid keyboards, underlain by a chugging undertow of bass throbs and steady mid-tempo drum beats, whilst a nostalgic, emotional duet of comforting baritone broods and bittersweet alto angst reminisces on the awkwardness of growing up.
Completely different is the surreal and jittery flip, “Bloody Nose,” which rambles with mercurial and ominous vehemence through jagged riffs, gritty, high-energy vocals and discordant, screechy saxophone blows.
The Pleasure Routine‘s new single, “About Carrie / Bloody Nose,” is out now on Limited 100 vinyl 7″s & Digital.
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