The band Widowspeak's breakout song "Harsh Realm" is best reserved for the kinds of unbearable evening heat waves that sweep over you and leave you listless. Front woman Molly Hamilton coos in that way, floating through her songs in a ghostly manner. She sings, "I always think about you" with severe melancholy as she relives a past lover. Everything in their debut is romanticized: a slight guitar twang, a little grunge and psychedelia to make it perfectly nostalgic for bygone eras of the Velvet Underground and David Lynch surrealism.
Since their first record, Hamilton, drummer Michael Stasiak and guitarist Robert Earl have added a fourth member (Pamela Garavano-Coolbaugh), toured Europe and are preparing to release their second record this fall.
However composed their debut effort may be, Hamilton experienced crushing shyness when it came to singing early on. It was only after facing her fears at shows did the experience of singing in public become a little more bearable for her. You can sense it in her hushed vocals: She's not someone who begs to be heard -- she uses her vocals as precisely as an instrument.
Each song on Windowspeak's self-titled debut is wrought with longing, the kind that makes you want to stick around and wallow in it for a while because that's part of the magic of being young and navigating without a map. "Gun Shy" sounds like an old Western, evoking narratives of pistols and saloons. This is a collection of slow-burning, minimalist jams that are perfect companions for your summer heatstroke. Check them out on June 27 at the Casbah with 2:54.
Nada Alic runs the San Diego-based music blog Friends With Both Arms. Follow her updates on Twitter or contact her directly.
