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Places To Hide

Almost Nothing

Written by: PP on 16/01/2014 22:07:41

Places To Hide is a small, fuzzy alternative rock outfit from South Carolina, whose debut album "Almost Nothing" serves as a vivid reminder of everything that was good about the 90s, but in particular, Superchunk and Pavement. Using these two bands as their primary source of inspiration, they deliver a similarly awkward indie-flavored alternative expression that Pavement pioneered with their introverted take on the genre during the 90s, while injecting Superchunk / Hüsker Dü style upbeat punk tunes as overtones whenever possible.

As an added bonus, songs like "October" and "Ecotone" toy with playful guitar rhythms that recall The Strokes from their "Is This It" and "Room On Fire" albums, all the while ensuring there's plenty of vibrant fuzz and warmth present in their garage style production overall. In fact, put all those three or four bands together, and you'll find Places To Hide exploring the space between them connecting all those different flavors and expressions together into a quirky sound. The vocals are split between the awkward male ones and the slightly less-awkward female ones, which creates a nice dynamic and allows for some variety throughout the record.

It might not be as outright amazing as material by any of the aforementioned bands, but the joy of playing, the buzzing guitars, and the awkward vocal melodies are definitely worthy of a listen or two. Maybe the purposefully off-tune singing won't bring them mainstream media attention, but the Superchunk and Pavement fans in particular should find plenty of vibrant melodies here to like.

Download: Self-Preservation, October, Ecotone
For the fans of: Superchunk, Pavement, old The Strokes
Listen: Facebook

Release date 01.06.2013
Self-Released