Cassette
See also: Sanctuary of Praise - Hours
Just now properly catching up with an exciting new(ish) London label that might just be providing the UK's answer to San Fran's Paisley Shirt. Such is their shared approach, both Sanctuary of Praise and the Living Rainbow could well be the same people, or they could not. Not sure it even matters that much. The Sanctuary of Praise tape came out at the back end of 2021, though you could tell me this was a lost relic from the mid noughties Brooklyn of Captured Tracks/Blank Dogs and i'd have no reason to doubt it. Oscillating between the murky and the jangly, Hours is a greyscale rendered grab bag of lo-fi aesthetics that's equal parts melodic, motorik and miserablist. Think Lives of Angels through a chorus peddle and more than a little Cure devotion, all wrapped around the dulcet tones of a singer who's probably seen the sun come up a fair few times. Eternal softspot for that kinda thing, though it's on the The Living Rainbow cassette where the Paisley Shirt comparisons make most sense. Vanishing Lands is an expert exercise in C86 melancholy that wears it's TVPs adoration firmly on its sleeve and with it would sit very nicely alongside any Sad Eye Beatniks tapes you may (and should) already have. Have come back to these two repeatedly, not just for their inherent charms but also for the hope they embody - perhaps London's indie guitar music is about to get smart again? We've waited too long.
