“I wanna be good at a lot of things, but I don’t know how to go about that,” Madeline Meyer admits after an accelerating mesh of noisy guitar and cymbals, continuing Littler’s tendency toward brutal honesty and self-awareness. And then, balancing that frustrated introspection with a glance outward: “Culture shifts like tectonics.” The burgeoning Philly band have released a number of singles from their forthcoming debut full-length Of Wandering (produced by Kyle Gilbride of Swearin’), each with its own self-contained world of questions voiced dually by Meyer and Dan Colanduno. On their latest offering “Tectonics”, Meyer sings solo and explores her personal disappointment with a shifting culture whose notions of what it means to be successful are constantly changing—though with ample shifts in tempo to match, it seems that she and the band are doing a better job keeping up than they let on. The four-piece pack a lot into two minutes, stretching and then compacting grungy rhythm guitar sections and wailing solos. Heat builds as Meyer belts “All will change” until the breaking point—and for a moment it sounds like she could be saying “I will change,” acknowledging her own malleability under pressure.
Of Wandering is due out March 25 through Birdtapes. You can stream “Tectonics” below, and scroll down for Littler’s east coast tour dates.
You can also read Madeline Meyer’s roundtable discussion on “The Myth of The Band” here.
Littler tour dates:
March
18 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
24 Philadelphia, PA @ Goldilocks Gallery
25 Providence, RI
26 Boston, MA
27 Brooklyn, NY @ Silent Barn
April
1 Philadelphia, PA @ Ortliebs
