If this were an average premiere from an average band, this is the part where, I, your humble music correspondent, might find some quote about the titular fungus courtesy the CDC or the EPA or Merriam-Webster and tease out a semi-tortured analogy between it and the music on the upcoming self-titled sophomore release from Miami-based noisegazers Mold!.
But I’m not going to do that because: a) I kind of already found a more pretentious way to pretend to be above that sort of behavior while engaging in it; and b) Mold! is far, far too special to not just get to the point.
And what is the point?
I’m glad you asked!
What we have here is a beguiling, transcendent, diverse collection of vital, kinetic, spoonful-of-shoegaze-helps-the-noise-rock-go-down brilliance that calls to mind Swervedriver, Dinosaur Jr and the Big Pink as often as it does Postal Service, Flock Of Seagulls and Altered Beast-era Matthew Sweet. (Mold! recorded with Ryan Haft, who captures the full wall-of-sound as perfectly as you might expect from someone who worked on Torche’s wild ’n’ wonderful Harmonicraft, but I don’t want to lean too far into that comparison—same zip code, different dimensional plane.)
So, after that—warranted!—adjective blitzkrieg, I have good and bad news.
Let’s start with the bad: You’ve got to wait until September to get your hands on Mold!.
The good news is, MAGNET is pleased to share the nutty video for the album’s opening track, “Choose To Be Controlled!”
“The song is about carving our own path in a world full of powerful people trying to control us,” says guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Carlo Barbacci. “And how some of us choose to be controlled for comfort while some others find the strength to find freedom just to realize freedom hurts, too.”
To paraphrase the late, great Ronnie Van Zant, they’re free as a spore now—and this spore you cannot change.
Fly high!
Check out the previous single from the record “20MG” here. For all other Mold! needs, hit up that Linktree.
—Shawn Macomber
