Double LP - colour vinyl
Should were the Texas-based duo of Marc Ostermeier of Tanya Maus who first emerged in the shoegaze hinterland of the late 90s with Feed the Fishes, a debut collection that drew influence from Colin Newman's Provisionally Entitled the Singing Fish, but most obviously stated a sonic affinity with the likes of Yo La Tengo, Seam, The Lilys and Bowery Electric. No prizes, then, as to why Numero are choosing to release this now, but even if the timing is in line with the current nostalgia for 90s guitar-driven interversion, there's also a brilliantly realised record hiding away in here. Ostermeier and Maus trade vocals in a way that's immediately redolent of Ira & Georgia's innate connections, diaphanous guitars flutter and wane ,and an overall air of melancholic euphoria and artful restraint glistens in its fuzzy grain. While they're a very melodically driven duo, to focus on that quality alone also functions as a misnomer of sorts, hiding as it does a few slightly more outre instincts that favour manipulated distortion, the slo-mo waltz of post-rock and ambient sound trickery in a way that recalls Main, Movietone and the early experiments of fellow Texans, Stars of the Lid. Not entirely sure why Should didn't get their flowers first time around when the concurrent sounds of Planet Records and Chemikal Underground were so well endorsed, though it's perhaps that mystery that makes this first time vinyl edition of Feed the Fishes so entrancing now.
