Bay area punks Wild Moth and Creative Adult just released two tracks of conceptually expansive post-punk on a split 7” this week on Broke Hatrè Records. Creative Adult’s track, appropriately titled “Ephemeral Thing”, is a thumping, percussive sibilation that only intensifies as it advances. It has the distant spaciness of a live recording. A synth sounds like it comes and goes, guitar tremolo and heavy reverb enter, and are snuffed out by distortion, leaving the only constants as bass, drums, and haunting vocals.
Wild Moth’s song, “Rewind,” is perhaps an even more interesting shift, following their 2013 release of Over, Again. It’s a slowed down power trudge, perpetually layering sounds on top of one another, and building in sonic momentum. The introduction of the vocals goes almost unnoticed, gently penetrating through bass and drums melded with choral downstrokes of guitar. By the song’s chorus it almost sounds like a droney love letter to Ian Curtis, breaking off with a full-on attitudinal shove into distortion and heightened vocal intensity. The two songs compliment each other nicely, speaking volumes for the freshness of the Bay Area music scene.
