For Forever

The first music in 18 years from a legenday Austin slowcore band. The assumption was that they'd broken up long ago, but for the past decade they practiced and recorded in secret. Their previous records are exquisitely dreamy, but this new music is heavier, drier, and more transparently unsettled. The calm singing adds to the disquiet. Beautiful, brooding, serrated. RIYL Bedhead, early Death Cab for Cutie, Duster, Pinback, Mojave 3, Andy Shauf. Favorites: 1, 3, 4, 7. FCC WARNING: 2, 5, 9, 10.

1. *(6:50)—Medium-slow. Extended intro. Catchy, simmering. Feels like a slightly doomier version of 00s indie rock.
2. (3:15)—FCC (f***). Slow and a little dissonant, with aggressive bass.
3. *(4:50)—Mid-tempo. Strutting rhythm, prominent organ, really nice guitar interplay. (Includes the line "I bet you’d bitch like you were never bought" but I don't think that's an FCC.)
4. *(4:38)—Medium-fast, with simple driving drums. Jittery but restrained.
5. (6:29)—FCC (c**k). Slow, feels like stoner rock before the vocal harmonies come in.
6. (4:21)—Mid-tempo. Whispered singing, lots of cymbal bashing.
7. *(12:47)—Slow, psychedelic. Textural, with minimal pulsing drums for the first five minutes. Long, gradual build.
8. (2:12)–Instrumental. Slow, with lots of backwards guitar.
9. (4:49)—FCC OBSCENE. Mid-tempo, chugging, with some rock-star singing at the end.
10. (4:51)—FCC (f*** multiple times). Mid-tempo. Pulsing near-dancefloor feel with droning textures.
11. (3:28)—Medium-slow, loping. Builds to a strained ending chorus.