Romantic Music＜Colored Vinyl＞

2010年作『CRUSH』がピッチフォーク誌で絶賛され、同期のVAMPIRE WEEKENDと比較されながら、10年代USインディに足跡を遺していったABE VIGODA。メンバーだったMICHAEL VIDALとJUAN VELASQUEZが2014年の解散以来、約10年振りにCUPID & PSYCHEという名でタッグを組み、『ROMANTIC MUSIC』と名付けられたデビュー作をドロップ!
2人が大いに影響を受けた1980～90年代のオルタナティヴ・ロックを、ABE VIGODA時代以上にここで発露!
ポスト・パンク / ニューウェーヴを骨組に、エモ、トリップ・ホップ、シューゲイザーを取り込み、現代のUSインディとして完成させた本作は、かつての『ADORE』を発表したスマッシング・パンプキンズのようにオルタナとしてのニュー・ウェーヴを再確認させる内容に!
"ANGEL ON THE PHONE"はそんな様式と"AS IT WAS"を高らかに鳴らしたハリー・スタイルズ手法が混ざった奇跡の1曲!このポップセンスはずば抜けています!
久し振りにタッグを組みMVやジャケット全てにニュー・ウェーヴ魂を注いだ2人に要注目!

The duo of Michael Vidal and Juan Velasquez came together during pandemic shutdowns, when the two former Abe Vigoda bandmates, in a state of feeling unmotivated, decided to jam together on their guitars in a practice room. Replete with noisy dissonance, what they produced felt cathartic, leading to more sessions, with Velasquez saying he found himself having to cut and weave his way through Vidals long progressions. Calling themselves Cupid & Psyche after the 1985 Scritti Politti album and its mythological Greek namesakes, they put together eight noise-injected, post-punk-inspired songs for their resulting debut album, Romantic Music. With glimmering accents of melodic guitar, standard verse-chorus structures, and Vidals craggy vocal phrasing sometimes recalling the Psychedelic Furs Richard Butler, the songs are more tonal and beguiling than perhaps these descriptions would lead one to expect, although they certainly occupy a soundscape removed from solid ground as well as the contemporary music mainstream. Having said that, a catchier entry like "Angels on the Phone" might have resonated with the dingier side of the post-punk set of the 80s, when bands like the Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the Jesus and Mary Chain could chart with singles, at least in the U.K. With touchstones like these and decades of noise pop and -rock to draw on since, most of Romantic Music is a bit murkier and more barbed while still anchored to that eras gloomy timbres, which persist even on songs with titles like "Against the Light" and "Datura Sketch." With a more congruous title, "Anxietys Rainbow" is an album highlight for its marriage of rousing melody, dissonance, and groove, while the rest is interesting enough to hope for more from this ambitious isolation-induced project. ~ Marcy Donelson