Tomorrows Tulips are here with their new album When, out today on Burger Records, and I highly recommend grabbing it.
The title tune hints at why I dig these guys. Sounding like early Nirvana covering George Harrison, the song is immediately memorable. As When chugs forward, the Sonic Youth-aping "Favorite Episode" oozes laconic charm.
The beautiful "Down Turned Self Pity" marries a Robert Fripp-like guitar line with a morose ditty akin to Beck's best stuff. There's a hint of Girls here too.
"Glued to You" rumbles like Pixies during the "quiet" parts of their best albums. Throw in a nod in the direction of Young Marble Giants and the cut stands out as one of the highlights of When.
Tomorrows Tulips are not exactly re-inventing the wheel here but they are doing a fantastic job at cherry-picking the "cool" bits of their (worthy) influences and making something fresh. I guarantee you that if any one of these cuts popped up on your indie mix that you'd be asking: "Whoa, what band is that? Who are those guys?"
This is affecting, sometimes discordant music of the best sort. Fans of Girls, Nirvana, or The Vaselines should dig this as much as I did.
When by Tomorrows Tulips is out today on Burger Records. Grab it.
