Posse, “Voices/Perfect H” 7” (Wharf Cat Records)
Been sitting with this single for a while now, trying to come up with something profound to say. Dreamy, lush. hypnotic, narcotic – all fit, yet somehow disappoint, in describing the two tracks on this new 7” from Seattle three-piece, Posse.
“Perfect H” – with its hushed call and response between Paul Wittman-Todd and Sacha Maxim, lightly reverbed guitar and hushed rhythm – is a great reminder of what made the group’s fusion of dream pop and psych with Sonic Youth downtown cool and Flying Nun down under jangle so compelling on their last outing, 2014’s Soft Opening.
It’s on “Voices”, though, that the band starts to toy with new sounds and textures. Where “Perfect H” sounds like a conversation in a closed room, “Voices” cracks the window and lets a hazy atmosphere swirl through, giving the track a weightlessness where other tracks feel more Earthbound. Wittman-Todd sing/talks, in an urban drawl reminiscent of Lou Reed via Thurston Moore, enigmatic lines (“who are these voices/I hear…from a century ago”), and snippets of remembered conversations with an ex (“and if i gave up my hobbies/and you gave yours up, too/would we/be ok/doin’ nothin’?”). The subtlety of the band’s approach fails to blunt the song’s overall impact as it unwinds around the 5:30 mark into an absolutely lovely guitar solo and slow fade out.
The single is available now, on Wharf Cat Records – a limited edition 7” or digital copy can be purchased on the label’s bandcamp site. Posse can be found fbook, and tmblr.
