On “Sunburn!”, breathy vocals blend with jangly guitar for a dreamy rock track by Portland band Lubec. Off their forthcoming album The Thrall, “Sunburn!” blazes through the thick, fuzzy clouds of the Pacific Northwest with a driving, melodic tune. Guitar lines meander over layers of boy/girl vocals that bring 90s shoegaze into a 2014 basement context—as Lubec describes it “Basement Philharmonix”. From the onset, its build up comes in at such a natural pace you can almost overlook it. The layered vocals and blurry chords disorient you with a woozy wall of sound, radiating uplift like the auditory form of crepuscular rays.
Midway through “Sunburn!”, Lubec grounds the bliss in a passionate, chugging breakdown that opens into a fury, like the tingle of scorched skin suddenly unveiling its pain to you as after a long day summer day outside.
Stream the debut of “Sunburn!” below. The Thrall comes out digitally and on cassette September 21 via Like Young Records. For early shipping, you can preorder the cassette here.
