A record chock full of wonder, Charming Pet GIFs, the debut LP from New Mexico-based Straight White Teeth is a vivid dreamscape of sound, peppered with spry synth lines and contemplative strings. Unassuming but not timid, the new LP delightfully dances around the nostalgia that exists on the fringes of memories of a simpler life. Guiding us throughout, is an intentional voice attempting to understand the complexities of life and love in the digital age.
Straight White Teeth is the dream pop project of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Patrick McGuire. After McGuire's Denver-based band Flashbulb Fires unexpectedly disbanded in 2014, he began composing tracks using his acoustic guitar and a small midi keyboard (while concurrently building a career as a freelance writer for publications such as Slate and Variety). The songs he wrote were released as the
Medicine Sword EP in 2015. In 2018, McGuire found success with a self-produced single called "Lifetime" featuring vocals from his former piano student Paige Pfleger. Early in that year, the track was picked up by KCRW's
Jason Bentley and charted up to #6 on his show,
Morning Becomes Eclectic.
Under its gauzy facade, Charming Pet GIFs details McGuire's perspective on how the widespread proliferation of affordable broadband internet has changed the way we, as humans, interact. "It's an album that explores humanity's fraught relationship with the internet," explains McGuire. "It explores things like internet addiction, singularity, and the idea that the internet is a massive, messy reflection of humanity--war, sex, friendship, communication, loyalty, betrayal, etc."
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