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It's such a great feeling to hit play on a Bandcamp record from a band you've never heard of and to know, within 30 seconds, that you're hearing something good. This morning, I got that feeling right away from the new two-song single by the Richmond, Virginia band Canaries. As someone who lives near Richmond, I feel like I should've already known about this band, but no, this is a Scott Lapatine discovery. Scott, in the Stereogum editorial spreadsheet: "forgot why i followed but this is good." He's right! This is good!
Canaries haven't been around long; they dropped a self-titled EP in 2024. Their sound is a bleary, lo-fi take on early-'90s fuzz-pop. It's not shoegaze, though all the kids currently into shoegaze could probably get into it. Instead, it's an extremely DIY version of what bands like Velocity Girl and Bettie Serveert did once upon a time. The new songs "Horsepower" and "Soma" have a dizzy, rushing grace that's really exciting. ("Soma" is not a Smashing Pumpkins cover, but it does have some Smashing Pumpkins vibes.) Just in the riff that opens "Horsepower," I immediately caught flashbacks to Sonic Youth's "Teen Age Riot" and Yo La Tengo's "Sugarcube," and those are great flashbacks to get.
As someone who'd never ever heard of Canaries 15 minutes ago, I can now tell you that there's something happening here. I will look out for this band now, and I will suggest that you do the same. Earlier this year, Canaries went on the Trip, a brief East Coast tour with Hotline TNT, Wishy, the Tubs, and Horse Jumper Of Love, so that's probably why Scott followed them. If you like those bands, you'll probably like Canaries.
This weekend, Canaries are going on a quick Philly/NY/DC run with fellow Richmond band Star Sign, so that's why they released what they call two songs for a troubled world last night. And actually, you know what? Both bands put out two-song releases ahead of that extremely brief tour, and Star Sign's new tracks, "Small Town" and "Waiting For Nothing," are beautiful jangly hangdog power-pop that reminds me of Matthew Sweet. The two bands seem to share at least one member, and they complement each other beautifully. Apparently, I need to figure out of there's a whole other scene going on over there. Check out both releases, as well as those tour dates, below.
TOUR DATES:
6/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Laundrette
6/20 - New York, NY @ The Mulberry
6/21 - Washigton, DC @ Il Supremo
English (US) · 