Triple Seven

ケビン・クラウターによる新たなバンドが遂にアルバムをリリース。

様々なバンド名と変遷を経てシューゲイザー、グランジ、パワー・ポップが交錯する幸福なストーリー。Pitchfork、New York Times、FADER、Rolling Stoneが絶賛し、 American Footballなどとも共演する注目のシューゲイザーバンド。インディアナ出身のソングライター、ケヴィン・クラウターとニーナ・ピッチカイツの音楽的相乗効果はまるで金鉱を掘り当てたかのような稀有で輝くようなサウンドを作り出しています。印象的なメロディーと緩やかな雰囲気、そこに痛烈なディストーションでが織りなすアレンジはハードコアとエモのシーンで育った2人にとってこれまでの経験をそのまま表現したサウンド。

Following a pair of 2023 EPs, Triple Seven is the full-length debut of Wishy, a five-piece led by co-singer/songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites, both known in indie circles for their work as soloists and on projects like Hoops and Push Pop, respectively. The two have known each other since their high school days in Indianapolis but only became friends after crossing paths as touring indie pop musicians. They started experimenting together in the early 2020s and debuted as Wishy after deciding on a sound that combines a multitude of 1990s influences around the crossroads of dream pop, heavier alt-rock, shoegaze, and noise pop. After adding an additional guitarist and rhythm section, they headed to the studio with co-producer/engineer/mixer Ben Lumsdaine (Amy O, Major Murphy) and recorded 21 songs in all, five of which ended up on the EP Paradise and ten of which can be heard here. With Triple Seven, they navigate all of these styles and arguably more (power pop, classic indie pop, metal?), with Krauter and Pitchkites alternating and sharing lead vocals and in some cases transforming songs that they separately brought to the table. They start with a merger of fuzz and bouncy hooks representative of Wishy on first track "Sick Sweet," which would have made a fine album title. Led by Krauter, the songs soaring synths and part swirling, part rhythmic wall of guitars get things going at a steady clip before the wispier-voiced Pitchkites takes over on the more dream pop-oriented title track. They rock out on "Game," get melancholy on the more lilting and skittery "Love on the Outside," and offer a swaying cigarette-lighter moment with the acoustic guitar-and-synth ballad "Just Like Sunday." The real magic happens, though, when the two leaders operate as a duo on tracks like the jangling, euphoric "Persuasion" and metal-injected "Spit," which closes the album in dramatic fashion on an invigorated combination of sexuality and heartbreak. While it might be nice to see a little more focus on something nearer to a composite sound, Wishy have already got a good thing going on an auspicious debut LP. ~ Marcy Donelson

フープスを経て、メロウなインディー・ソウルでまとめたソロ作が高く評価されたケヴィン・クラウターのニュー・バンド。このファースト・アルバムでは、シューゲイザーやネオアコの影響が色濃いUK的なサウンドを地元の仲間たちと大音量で鳴らしている。胸キュンな表題曲、ノイズが酩酊へと導く"Love On The Outside"など各曲を貫くメロディーの良さも特筆すべき。
bounce (C)田中亮太