Sugar Candy Mountain make music that draws from a range of disparate influences and which seems the sort of thing that's sure to appeal to anyone who likes, say, Stereolab as well as The Andrea True Connection. The band's new album, Do Right, is out on Friday and it's a fab listen.
If a number like "This Time Around" seems to be looking to stuff from the disco era in some ways, the more precise "Crystalline" marries a Beach Boys-like hook with the sort of presentation found on Beach House records. It's a fantastic track, and one which lingers in the ear long after the song is over. Elsewhere, the lovely "Losing Myself" nods in the direction of Julie Cruise recordings, while the bright "Mar-A-Lago" sees Sugar Candy Mountain looking to Broadcast and Gainsbourg for inspiration. At times here, like on the more accessible "Split In Two", the music of Sugar Candy Mountain seems to be approaching the sort of blissed-out vibe of late-period Cocteau Twins releases, or even the more mellower moments on a My Bloody Valentine offering. Still, what's here is consistently inventive and the band's grasp of songwriting indicates that the players understand how to compose near-shoegaze material with indie-pop that has real melodic heft.
Do Right is a resounding success, and the players here -- Ash Reiter (vocals and guitar), Will Halsey (vocals and drums), Sean Olmstead (guitars and synths), and Jeff Moller (bass) -- have managed to make a record like this, full of music like this, that stands as more than just another offering in an already-crowded near-shoegaze scene. By melding in bits of Gilberto, and High Llamas, and Boo Radleys, the musicians in Sugar Candy Mountain have crafted one of the best releases of Spring 2018 here in Do Right.
More details on Do Right via the band's official website, or via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Yasamine June]