Still Life＜Coke Bottle Green Vinyl/限定盤＞

元PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEARTが贈る80'sネオアコオマージュ炸裂な新作!

JAMC、LA'S、THE FEELIESリスペクトなメンバーが集まった往年のネオアコ集!

PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEARTでベースを担当していたALEX NAIDUSを中心に結成したロサンゼルス拠点のMASSAGE。影響元である80'sのインディポップ、ジャングリーポップ、ネオアコをド直球に吸収し作り上げた最新作『STILL LIFE』は、リアルタイムから現代のインディラヴァーズを虜にする超強力盤!!

メンバー間でメールのやり取りをしながら緻密に曲作り、スタジオに入ってからはプロデューサーにLEWIS PESACOV(BEST COASTやFIDLARを担当)を招き着実に本作を仕上げていったMASSAGE。そこにはオマージュやリスペクトを落としつつ2021年現在でも輝く骨太なインディポップを練る狙いがありました...!そうして公開された新曲"HALF A FEELIN"は最初のドラムがもうJESUS AND MARY CHAINの名曲"JUST LIKE HONEY"のオマージュが炸裂!そこに被さるファズが効いた幻想的なギターと儚げなボーカルが入る頃には、耳と心がインディポップを求めるようになっているでしょう。

前述のリスペクト精神、ただただバンドサウンドの妙を楽しむ事に焦点を当てたアレンジと、とにかく動機が明快な彼等。そこは在籍していたPAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEARTよりシンプルかもしれません。同じく新人でジャングリーポップを標榜するUMBRELLASとセットで聴きたい1枚!!

The follow-up to their 2018 debut, Oh Boy, Still Life finds Flying Nun Records progenies Massage inching away from that albums committed jangle pop toward lusher shoegaze textures while remaining firmly in the tunefully bittersweet territory. A project started for pleasure by co-singer-songwriters Andrew Romano and Alex Naidus (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart) and fleshed out by friends and relations, they were quickly picked up by Australias Tear Jerk Records, who partnered with Mt. St. Mtn. and Bobo Integral to co-release the sophomore album. It introduces their slightly updated sound with Half a Feeling, an unreturned-love song that incorporates passages of churning guitar distortion and what sounds like bowed electric guitar and contrasting, calmer stretches of acoustic strumming. Feedback and an empathic kick drum get the last word. Second song Made of Moods is one of several that proves they havent left the jangle behind, while Sticks & Stones picks up the tempo with a wistful urgency reminiscent of the Smiths bouncier classics. An album highlight, Anna, while hazier, also uplifts with its buoyant rhythms and rousing chorus. Elsewhere, more reflective entries include the yearning 10 & 2 and equally shimmery At the End of the World. Featuring a dozen tracks, all under four minutes each, and lyrics like At the end of the world, where were you?/At the end of the world, trees turn blue, Still Life knows and honors the traditions of its indie pop forefathers and foremothers. As if to underscore this, it closes on an optimistic note with I Come Running, a twee-leaning commitment song featuring keyboardist/singer Gabrielle Ferrer on co-lead vocals. ~ Marcy Donelson