Freezing Cold had a good head of steam going before COVID killed its momentum shortly after the release of 2019’s Glimmer. Learning their “hurry up and go nowhere” lesson, native Long Islanders Angie Boylan and Jeff Cunningham took their sweet time making Treasure Pool (Don Giovanni). Both Freezing Cold co-founders have logged their indie miles—Boylan as a session and touring drummer for Sleater-Kinney, Aye Nako and Cheeky, Cunningham as the singer/guitarist for Bridge & Tunnel and Ordinary Lives.
With its percolating tunefulness, efficient 32-minute runtime and midtempo pacing, Treasure Pool feels like a genuine reconciliation of Freezing Cold’s DIY punk past and a more finespun post-punk/power-pop dynamic. Think Cure by way of late-’90s Nada Surf, punctuated by occasional J Mascis guitar histrionics.The trio has most certainly benefited from the addition of bassist Leanne Butkovic (Never), who joined the band amid the pandemic.
For its sophomore release, the trio tracked 10 songs over 24 months in three separate sessions at Lakehouse Recording Studios in Asbury Park, N.J., with friends Eric Bennett and Marissa Paternoster (Screaming Females) behind the boards. Boylan, Cunningham and Butkovic offered additional details to MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland.
Given that sophomore releases can be tricky, how does Treasure Pool showcase Freezing Cold’s evolution since 2019’s Glimmer?
Boylan: On our first album, we were still kind of figuring out our sound and the direction. With this new album and lineup, we had a clearer vision. I think it’s a good representation of who we are as a band in 2025—and I do think our sound has changed a good bit compared to Glimmer. Most obviously, Leanne is playing bass and singing and was a part of the writing process. They have such smart ideas for crafting a song, from the structure and specific notes to the pedals we use and the sound—not to mention vocal melodies and harmonies.
I also think we were more intentional with the writing process. We had more conversations about the direction we wanted the songs to take and what role each song serves on the album. We favored heavier guitar sounds and replaced the delay pedals with a phaser. We put more thought and energy into our song structures. We really wanted to incorporate woodwinds somehow, so I went out and bought a used clarinet on Craigslist and relearned how to play it after not picking one up since high school. Leanne also broke out their saxophone from high school.
The new album draws on some conventional alt-rock ingredients while still managing to sound fresh and unpredictable. How did you manage that?
Butkovic: We weren’t following any set of rules at the time of writing. But looking back, I think we were trying to write things that followed typical song structures—or at least not a string of unrepeated parts that go from point A to point Z. Then we’d pry those formulas open to stuff in a surprising twist, or a part that might not even really feel like it belongs at first. Something like “Eclipse” is probably the most obvious example—a standard intro/verse/chorus and straightforward anthemic rock tune with an almost spooky minute-long instrumental bridge shoved in there. The album is full of many more—or less—dramatic examples than that.
We did a fair bit of whiteboard diagraming, which probably would’ve looked like demented cuneiform to other people. Doing that might have over-intellectualized the process. But it did turn the more radical choices into decipherable logic that allowed us to consider whether we felt the song worked as a whole. Beyond structure, we were all just pulling from our point of views and finding compromise within the Venn diagram of our tastes.
How has Leanne’s addition to the band changed the dynamic?
Cunningham: More than ever, we’re working as a truly collaborative unit, bringing parts and sections of songs into practice, pulling them apart and putting them back together. Beyond Leanne’s contributions to writing and performing, they designed the album art for Treasure Pool, using a piece of stained glass and paint. They also directed and edited our latest music video and created our last two T-shirt designs.
What was the inspiration for the album’s title?
Boylan: It’s a concept we came up with one night while hanging out at my apartment. It was kind of inspired by a trip I’d recently taken to the Oregon coast, where I saw the tide pools appear at dusk, revealing so many creatures and habitats you didn’t know were there just minutes before. I read a description that called them “unique habitats teeming with life, offering a window into the marine world.” There’s some metaphor there about being in a band, surely. You create this world together, are vulnerable, bare your ideas and creative expression to one another, and pool everything together onto an album that’s eventually revealed to the world.
You took two years to make Treasure Pool. How does it show in the finished product?
Cunningham: I think we were more inspired by the recording process this time around. That focused, concentrated time really helped us zero in on the nuances of what we were doing. Since we recorded a few songs at a time while still writing others, we had the chance to step back and think about the album as a whole. If something felt repetitive, we could scrap a song or just part of one. That time and space show in the variety across the album. There were moments when we felt pressure to release it sooner. But letting it take the time it needed paid off.
See Freezing Cold live.
