Special Explosion is signed to today’s leading emo label, Topshelf Records, but their music sounds a lot more like straight-up indie rock of late-’90s vintage. Specifically, “Clotheslined,” a highlight from the group’s forthcoming The Art Of Mothering EP, could be slotted somewhere in the middle of Built To Spill’s Keep It Like A Secret without pissing anybody off, though the vocal duet sounds more like Ben Gibbard and Jenny Lewis sitting in. And Special Explosion is, in fact, from Washington state, so in a sense the band is preserving the traditional music of its region. The song rides a rock-solid foundation built from booming toms, grooving bass, and (especially) melodic guitar string-bends straight from the heavens. See what I mean below.

Special Explosion – “Clotheslined”

The Art Of Mothering is out 2/25 via Topshelf. Pre-order here, and catch the band on tour:

2/16 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Shred Shed (w/ Caravels)
2/17 Laramie, WY @ University of Wyoming (w/ Caravels)
2/18 Omaha, NE @ The Slowdown JR (w/ Caravels)
2/19 Kansas City, MO @ Art Closet Studio (w/ Foxing, Caravels)
2/20 St. Louis, MO @ The Demo (w/ Foxing, Caravels)
2/21 Chicago IL @ Township (w/ Foxing, Joie De Vivre)
2/22 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Turtle Den (w/ Foxing, Run Forever)
2/23 Cleveland, OH @ Now Thats Class (w/ Foxing)
2/24 Syracuse, NY @ Spark Contemporary Gallery (w/ The World Is…)
2/25 Cohoes NY @ The Icehouse
2/27 New York, NY @ Suburbia (w/ Teen Suicide, Sorority Noise, Alex G)
2/28 Middletown, CT @ Eclectic Society (w/ Teen Suicide & Sorority Noise)
3/01 Philadelphia, PA @ Philamoca (w/ Teen Suicide, Sorority Noise, Alex G)
3/02 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar (w/ Teen Suicide, Sorority Noise, Us & Us)
3/03 College Park, MD @ Hostage House (w/ Prawn)
3/04 Richmond, VA @ Gallery 5 (w/ Prawn)
3/05 Chapel Hill, NC @ Chapel Hill Underground (w/ Prawn)
3/06 Atlanta, GA @ Wonderroot (w/ Prawn)
3/20 Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest