The Quarter After – “Changes Near” 
That The Quarter After have largely been lost among the tangle of ’00s guitar bands is quite a shame. The band was lead by brothers Dominic and Rob Campanella, a California outfit with roots in neo-psychedelia and jangle-pop. These days the band might be known more as a footnote for Rob’s production work outside of the group, having been at the helm of records by The Black Angels, The Warlocks, Mia Doi Todd, and Dead Meadow alongside. He was also a notable on-again off-again member of Brian Jonestown Massacre. While that might give some insight into the psych sounds inherent in The QA’s works, they’re more akin to fellow Byrds acolytes and Cali compatriots Beachwood Sparks and The Tyde, with The Rain Parade squarely in the rearview. Like those bands, The Quarter After ensconce their jangles in sun-dappled clouds, offering an effusive shimmer that matches the kind of West Coast melt that seemed to accompany the edges of The Paisley Underground and the aughts wave of Cosmic Americana.
The band’s debut might grab more attention from psych archivists but their second album is a soft-focus masterpiece that’s just now getting its vinyl due via Dust and Memory. The original cropped up on BJM’s Committee to Keep Music Evil, but surfaced only on CD, given its release in 2008. The record deserves a little space to stretch out; slipping from country touches, to paisley hooks, and even a touch of ;70s grandeur. The soft strums of “She Revolves” hook the listener in, but by the time we’re deep into the record, “Nothing Out of Something” makes some unmistakable nods to No Other, feeling like an update on “Silver Raven’s” singed sequin opulence. The band knows how to hook a jangle and lodge it deep into the psyche; and like so many bands with a sibling pair, the harmonies just hit a bit harder here. Among psych collectors of the time, the record was a treasure, but like far too many it slipped away among a glut of offerings and a cultural lean towards indie rock’s rise at the time. Lovely to have Dust and Memory lift this one back up where it belongs.
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