Part Time Punks

Emerging quietly from the California bay area through their limited edition demos and intimate performances over the last two years, Them Are Us Too have gained a cult following within independent music circles as a young, new take on the revered "4AD sound" of dreamy goth-pop anthems. With a nod to 80's shoegaze sensibilities, Them Are Us Too creates songs about tragedy and loves-lost that draws devoted listeners to their nostalgic and innocent sound. Kennedy Ashlyn Wenning's vocals have been repeatedly compared to Kate Bush, Harriet Wheeler, and Elizabeth Fraser, with a pitch-perfect octave range carrying songs gracefully between optimistic joy down to undisturbed melancholia - all within one moment of verse. Guitarist Cash Askew paints a layered and complex backdrop using signature reverberation and washes of stringed ambient tones, akin to Robin Guthrie, Ronny Moorings and Kevin Shields. Perfectly executed songwriting with effortless simplicity and vernal drive, Them Are Us Too's debut album, Remain, rivals the comparative magic behind the early 4AD catalog and zeitgeist of early Creation Records. Massive, seraphic sound and heartbreaking nostalgia crafted into 8 songs of uncompromising and immaculately orchestrated beauty. At only 21 years of age for both members, Them Are Us Too mask their irrepressible youth underneath their limitless imagination and unparalleled talent, dedicating themselves fully to their uncanny musical creation. The debut album "Remain" on Dais Records was recorded and produced by Joshua Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv, Nine Inch Nails, Sons of Magdalene).


Photo credit: Sarah Bernat

Culling influences from the avant underbelly of decades past, {When It Comes} is the debut EP from the dark San Francisco duo appropriately dubbed: Chasms. Drenched in the dreaminess of early 4AD, Chasms takes familiar shoegaze affectations to biting temperatures, arriving intently at dysphoric soundscapes and swollen compositions. From whispered vocals to droning bass, and guitar that's as blistering as it is lush – all elements are commanded by a blown-out drum machine that throbs with industrial authority. Wading through a heavy haze of melancholy, the damaged ten-plus-minute-long epic 'Headwound / What's Real' drifts from brutal to blissful at once. Though not all is so bleak; radiating moments like 'Darker Outside' remind us that a cold light still shines.


Black Mare is the solo project of Sera Timms, vocalist and bassist for Ides Of Gemini and formerly of the recently disbanded Black Math Horseman. With a focus on rhythmic repetition and atmospheric simplicity, Black Mare steps outside the collaborative dynamic to reveal a creative process that is all Sera’s own. Her songs traverse hidden realms, fragments of dreams, submerged memories and mythical imagery. Where Black Math Horseman and Ides Of Gemini demand volume and collusion, Black Mare requires only quiet contemplation. If Black Math Horseman and Ides Of Gemini seek to summon the deafening roar of inevitability, Black Mare delivers its verdicts in solemn whispers. And yet each operates, in its own way, within the darkened spheres of hypnosis.