Sloucher should be the well-earned envy of every other aspiring indie-rock act trying to cut through the noise in 2018.
Why? Because on its debut LP, “Be True,” the Seattle-based four-piece has exactly what any group writing original material would want: a familiar, yet distinct, signature sound.
Oh, and if that isn’t enough, Sloucher never really sounds like it is trying too hard while making all 10 tracks on “Be True” sound good.
There’s an ease to melody that frontman Jay Clancy seems to have, made all the more potent by his whisper-like vocal style and the low-key, loose grooviness provided by down-tuned guitars and a rhythm section that knows it doesn’t need to show off. Not that Sloucher isn’t very much a rock band, because it is, occasionally pulling out some Weezer-esque power chord riffs or squealing fuzz guitar licks. But the thing that defines Sloucher is its ability to stay restrained and still deliver a wallop. Well, that and excellent guitar playing, whi
ch is all over the album.
On “Be True,” Sloucher announces itself as the next great slacker rock band — pretty apropos considering their name — employing a sound that is clearly its own thing but also echoes tentpoles of the genre to make them accessible to just about anybody who has ever enjoyed a three-chord pop-rock song.
Every once in a while you’ll hear Pavement atonal guitar weirdness or Television’s melody-meets-malaise wizardry. Sometimes you’ll notice your toes tapping or head bobbing just like the first time you heard Nirvana’s “Lithium.” Above all, though, the act I hear the closest resemblance to for Sloucher is Elliott Smith, or more accurately the songs Smith wrote and sang in Heatmiser. “Get Lucky” and the Heatmiser version of “Christian Brothers” in particular seem to be like blueprints for Clancy’s best songs. (Aside: I wonder if the Heatmiser parallel is maybe just a little intentional considering the similar aesthetic on the “Be True” cover to Heatmiser’s “Mic City Sons.”)
On top of the list of Clancy’s better songs is “Waiting To Start,” the lone repeat on “Be True” from Sloucher’s 2016 EP “Certainty” and the song I first heard on KEXP that turned me into an instant fan. Listen to “Waiting To Start” and you will learn everything you need to know about Sloucher — if you like it, you like Sloucher. If you don’t — which I can’t imagine is even possible — then Sloucher isn’t for you.
I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of people who fall in the former camp after “Be True” is released on Nov. 16. It’s one of those albums artists dream of writing with no obvious skippable tracks, and it has the sound of a great band with a clear, relatable identity.
Key tracks: “Waiting To Start,” “Blurring The Line,” “Perfect For You”
* See Sloucher live at Neumos performing with Great Spiders and Guerrilla Candy favorites Wild Powwers on Oct. 25. Tickets cost $12.
