by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Providence's (soon to be Philadelphia's) Edgar Clinks is the brainchild of Joe Gaudiana, a project that become a home for misfit pop and exaggerated indie quirk over the past few years. Earlier this year we had the pleasure of sharing the video for "Algal Bloom," a song from last year's, I Live In A Tree These Days. One year beyond that release and things remain the same despite the looming change of location. The band's oddball emo and experimental bedroom pop vibes sound as vibrant as ever, their signature embrace of strange melodies and warped tape manipulation still radiantly comfortable. Set to release Milk Puddle in January via Super Wimpy Punch Records, Gaudiana and company sound as animated and exuberant as ever.
"Surfboard," the album's first single is the type of sticky lo-fi that resonates with each new layer, from the programmed beats and twinkling guitars to Gaudiana's enigmatic vocals, demented melodic skips and harmonic pops included. Seemingly simple on first listen, there's a lot to unpack with each repeat, but at its core "Surfboard" is a pop song, homegrown and full of momentary earworms, coming and going with the blink of an eye. Gaudiana's lyrics explore modern friendships with concerns of detachment ("talk a lot then I'm withdrawn"), complacency ("I can't quite tell what drugs you're on"), the all too cool, and questions of irony, eventually arriving at the decision to let go and let them "paddle on". Then the song fades into a wash of frog sounds (maybe crickets, hard to say)... an unconventional ending to an unconventional introduction, and yet pure unadulterated Edgar Clinks.
Edgar Clinks' Milk Puddle is out January 2018 via Super Wimpy Punch Records.