"And The Hours Are Everlasting": A Quick Review Of The New Single From Lake Ruth On Slumberland Records

Late Ruth continue to enchant, and to such an extent that this old curmudgeon is rushing to post a review of a single. "Extended Leave" / "Strange Interiors" is out on Slumberland Records on Friday and it's one of the real highlights of this week's busy slate of new records.

The A-Side here, "Extended Leave" is one of the brightest things this group has produced so far. Full of glistening surfaces, the number, as many from Lake Ruth do, echoes in the best possible way the stuff from Broadcast and Stereolab. Where Lake Ruth change things up is in the directness of the vocals from Allison Brice, and force of the drumming from Matt Schulz, and the intricacy of the patterns put forth by guitarist Hewson Chen. The flip here, "Strange Interiors" is more expansive, languid even, with the keyboard lines doing their best to get as much attention as the very good kit-work from Schulz here. If this is dream-pop, it's got real kick behind it at least. And for that reason, I am here raving about the tunes of Lake Ruth again, because as musicians, they rarely get lost in things even as they make music that one can easily get lost in.

"Extended Leave" / "Strange Interiors" is out on Friday via Slumberland Records.

More details on Lake Ruth via the band's official Facebook page.