The first time we heard Tamaryn we were playing her one-sided 7-inch at the wrong speed on our record player and were like, This is a super heavy anthem and it is kind of fucking with our brains? After figuring it out, we realized that Tamaryn specializes in the kind of shoegazed pop that a lot of people mess with but usually don’t do very well. The key, specifically with “Mild Confusion,” is that Tamaryn tempers the effects, letting the guitars wash over the rest of the song in brief spikes, never letting the music devolve into meandering reverb, always galloping forward. It’s pop music augmented by experimentation but unafraid to go for big hooks, stadium-sized drums and dramatic gestures—like if Kate Bush followed her muse more in the direction of Hounds of Love instead of making that one song where she sings as if she were a bird. Tamaryn’s “Mild Confusion/Light Shadows” 7-inch is available for pre-order from True Panther/Matador right here.
Download: Tamaryn, “Mild Confusion”
Sam, honey, trust me: Kate Bush always follows her muse even if you’re too dumb to acknowledge it. Tamryn is yawn-worthy at most, and sounds like warmed over early 80s Cocteau Twins.
@Ari This comment is so awesome I don’t even think I can read it twice. Sam, no more jokes!
BLOODY AMAZING. this is a serious wall of sound gem. love this
comparisons aside, great song.
This is a very polite version of shoegaze. What “wall of sound gem” are you even talking about?
looked on the myspace and saw she is going on tour with Girls! this is cool.
Finally some *heavy* material from a female-fronted act that doesn’t rely on wispy Cat Power vocals or trendy headband ’80s-synth-cheese. All the other songs on her MySpace are killers too. This is, in short, refreshing. “Light Shadows” is gorgeous. Can’t wait for the album.
Ugh. This is such a lame Ride rip-off.