¡Socorro!, “Kind(n)ess Altered The Habitual Years”
Available: Now, digitally on Bandcamp at socorro-on.bandcamp.com/album/kindess-altered-the-habitual-years and also in very limited quantity on cassette tape.
I recently had an acquaintance I hadn’t seen in some time come by my office to bring me a cassette tape that he picked up in Los Angeles. He distinctly thought of me upon hearing it and I’m glad he dropped it by.
The three-song EP was recorded and performed by his friend, Guy Valdez, who records under the moniker ¡Socorro! with fellow bandmates Amanda Kobritz (guitar), Gina Negrini (bass/vocals), Jenny Luna (percussion), Shelly Schimek (drums) and Adeline Jasso (guitar). A few seconds into the title track opener, I was intrigued by the squall and dynamic of both melody and noise. It reached its crescendo then quickly segued into complementing male/female vocals before flitting back into swirling noise. The track managed to shift and drone on, but never once lost my attention. The four-minute-plus second track, “23,” is a relatively lo-fi cut that picks up pace before descending into sparse instrumental psychedelia in the final minute. The b-side closer, “Bird Beyond Your Call,” veers into the early aught’s revival of Laurel Canyon-esque Americana. While seemingly and descriptively disparate, all three songs work so well together that I sincerely hope a full-length follows in 2016.
While rightly hard to pin down, there are moments of My Bloody Valentine, Murray Street-era Sonic Youth, Alex Bleeker, The Babies and Weblos
Jon E. Lynch[email protected]
