We were pretty impressed with Brooklyn power pop band Downies’ first single "Widow" back in May, but then silence fell – we even tried to book them for our CMJ show but no reply was had (by the way, here’s an almost absolute truth for you: distorted guitar based bands tend to be horrible at replying to emails, while acoustic musicians tend to be great at it – go figure!). But let’s not digress. Downies is now dead, because it has tramsitioned into something else identical to itself in everything but its name, which is now "Cende." They are about to release a debut, self titled EP scheduled for January 2016, but available for full streaming on their bandcamp page. "Is it good?" – you ask. "It’s good" we answer. It’s fast, distorted grunge-pop, featuring melodies that anybody will have a hard time purging from their system. Five good songs out of five, with the fourth one being not poppy at all, but very Pixies-ish in an extreme and concentrated way. For the record, you’ll never get a complaint from us with the word "Pixies" in it; even "they sound too much like The Pixies" should always be interpreted as a huge compliment, as long as it’s referred to the band’s early years. Listen again to "Widow," and enjoy the speedy catchiness of second track "End," streaming below.
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