As promised, here are my two cents in two words on the new ((sounder)) 7”, out now on Mt. Inadale Records: It’s Awesome.

Oh where to begin… I’m usually not one to judge a book by it’s cover, but opening up the sleeve and seeing the cool (both in aesthetics and temperature) baby blue record was quite the treat. What can I say, I’m a sucker for colored vinyl.

As for the record itself, it’s a beautiful recording. The A-side “We’ll Turn the Coffins Into the Gardens” features front-and-center the sweet croonings of singer Mike Aho — who has a tinge of Band of Horses’ frontman Ben Bridwell in him. The lyrics are shear poetry, with a mid-stream intro line of “Not that I really mind the silence, that’s grown around me // like the weeds around the fence post” that is pure Joycean (à la Finnegan’s Wake). The B-side, “Don’t Bring It to Life,” is a perfect compliment to the more solemn A. With brass instruments, hand claps, and some verbal interjects in the background, ((sounder)) sounds like they are having a blast recording — something you don’t really see on too many tracks!

You can watch a live version of “We’ll Turn the Coffins Into the Gardens,” shot in their hometown of Austin, as well as some B&W footage of a previous track of theirs, “A War of the Coffee Table,” that’s just as good: