The Smashing Times

The Smashing Times go three for three with a trio of albums spanning ’22-’24. It’s a feat that not many can pull off, but the East Coast janglers have a knack for locking down a time-lagged litany of songs that feel like they’ve somehow stumbled on a stockpile of Dan Treacy demos or a C86 secret stash. The band’s love for the past aside, what often makes The Smashing Times stand out from their peers is an ability to subvert the expectations of jangle pop in 2024. Where many of the ‘80s jangle acolytes go for clean strums and wide-eyed earnestness, The Smashing Times aren’t afraid of a little dissonance and that’s on prime display over the course of Mrs. Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys.

The band’s quick to let a prime riff or honeyed hook go sour, slipping in just a bit of psych and curdling the reverie with noise. Like Cleaners From Venus or Half Japanese, the band isn’t scared to make the listener work for a hook. As often as they let pastoral strums and sanguine harmonies prevail, they’ll stray down an alley of dirge, ruminating on repeated mantras about tea. The band’s been fond of the approach in the past, but the strain has often been relegated to a track or two. Their latest feels like a concept piece, a tapestry of sounds half dreamed, half divined from some incorrigible past. In the world of The Smashing Times, we’re all wandering, lens smudged with petroleum jelly, trying to get a handle on our hazy surroundings. Indie pop is as prevalent as ever, but few are foraging so far into the wilds as The Smashing Times.

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