Mare Island Premiere Eponymous Debut EP
By: Caryn Robbins Jun. 19, 2017
Mare Island has premiered their eponymous, debut EP today via The Big Takeover prior to its release this Friday, June 23. The Bay Area quintet will celebrate with a performance next Thursday, June 29 in San Francisco, at Amnesia.
Mare Island features members of Bay Area mainstays The Velvet Teen and Loma Prieta, drawing strength from their predecessors' decade-plus body of indie pop and post-hardcore works to create their own brand of lush, maximalist sound, with the record produced by Ian Pellicci (Deerhoof, The Dodos, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down).
Built around the choirboy-like vocal delivery and lyricism of Josh Staples and melodic, angular guitar playing of Derrick Chao and Sean Leary, the band makes clear nods toward the members' other projects, but with outward experimental pushes through the use of pitch-shifted loops and samples. Further evidence of this departure is San Francisco's own Magik*Magik Orchestra providing studio appearances on the record, imbuing the songs with a rich, ethereal quality.
Mare Island emerged live in 2016, performing around the Bay Area and releasing a first single, "Anon", which The Bay Bridged called, "...a gorgeous journey through soft and light, dark and loud." The band announced their debut record with a second single, "Unawake", earlier this spring, which Treblezine called, "a gorgeously arranged track that pairs shoegazing density with an emotionally charged vocal presence and stunning instrumental dynamics," and followed last week with "Alight" via Popmatters.
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