Caramel | Credit Electric | Bad Tide | Little Dume
The absolute worst part of trying to run a blog is saving a song to feature, then forgetting where you put it. But behold! We just found a nearly forgotten stack of treasures, so please bear with us… On the bright side, these have all been taste-tested and are guaranteed to pick up where we left off in our last post, in the sense that they are a surefire way to keep the winter blues at bay.
First up, we have a psychedelic pop duo called Caramel. We’re assuming that, like many other artists, they were brought together during the pandemic, since one lives in South Africa (Stephan Kreussel) and the other in Lithuania (Dominykas Morkunas). According to their Spotify, they call themselves “therapy-pop,” which we have never heard of before, but it makes complete sense as their music acts as a means for the listener to filter out negative emotions and transfer in some positive energy. Their sound is very fresh, while also offering a keen sense of nostalgia. “Chasing a Sound” is all the evidence you will need of this:
And though they originally sent us “Chasing a Sound,” you should also be sure to check out their latest cut, “Green Again.” Both will take you to a very peaceful place, as they carry you away on their gentle grooves and sweet melodies– not to mention those delicious bass lines.
And while you’re floating around in the psychedelic, it would be wise to press play on “carrot,” by Credit Electric. Though they originally tried to sell us this track as indie folk, those ‘70s guitar licks a la the Bee Gees cannot be ignored. This is the kind of tune that you never want to end, but when it does, your head continues bobbing because of the state in which it leaves you. If you dig this track, then you should definitely check out the trio’s latest album, out of love in the face of a shadow, which is available everywhere you put music into your ears.
Abandoning the psychedelic for some scorching indie rock, please meet Bad Tide, a trio based out of Beacon, NY who refuse to be cast into a genre, but excel at ‘50s/surf/garage rock and claim that they are “East Coast Pool Rock.” We were recently lucky enough to fill our ears with “Letters, for Now…” and what we can tell you is that it sounds like a juiced-up version of The Lemonheads, complete with gritty, overdriven vocals and amps that go to eleven. It comes very close to the edge of punk, but, instead, remains something that resembles the early work of Kings of Leon. We’ve been so focused on raw and acoustically-driven sounds that we had nearly forgotten that this style of music was out there, and we certainly hope that more of it finds its way into our stack of submissions.
And since we’re all here so that we can feel good, let’s seal the deal with “Ocean,” by Little Dume. This group comes to us from Malibu, CA and consists of four dudes who have been playing together since they were sixteen. All of this time they’ve spent together has certainly paid off, landing them sync deals with Fox, NBC, Amazon, and Disney– and you know that Disney isn’t going to play music that doesn’t make you feel good. “Ocean” has quite an open and glorious sound; this thing comes across as something that was meticulously tracked in a major studio, resulting in an anthemic production that would be at home on any radio station and in any arena. See for yourselves:
-TM