Wednesday night at Santos Party House in NYC was a stacked lineup. I made it in time to catch a bit of LA-based Evan Voytas, and I’m glad I did. Voytas has released a slew of singles so what brings his music together is the consistency between each track. There is an evident spaciness in his pop music: some songs are infused with soft synths, delicacy and nostalgic airiness while others are bouncy, clubby and druggie. There’s definitely very cool ambience going on his music. Baltimore Lower Dens shortly proceeded Voytas – quite the folky, flowy treat. The fuzzy, dragging screeches of the guitar and the singer’s dusky, low-toned voice, created an evocative, atmospheric vibe. After their set, I hung around a little bit to catch SF based Tamaryn.
Their most recent LP, appropriately called The Waves, really sums up their kind of shoegaze rock really nicely – there’s slow movement and echoing vocals amidst upbeat, shaking guitars. Good tunes, nice sounds…Straight up chilling! – Read the rest of Alex Vann CMJ report here.