Tonstartssbandht – “Sorcerer”
Edwin and Andy White are Tonstartssbandht (pronouned tahn-starts-bandit), a sibling tag-team of guitar and drums with a theatrical bent despite making lazy-Sunday, lo-fi pop. Together they are set to release their first full-length for Mexican Summer, Sorcerer (it’s their first LP since 2011’s Now I Am Become). Andy also has a gig in Mac DeMarco’s touring band, and the title track from their new album seems to have absorbed the slacker charm of DeMarco’s songwriting, although without the brevity or schmaltzy hooks.
“Sorcerer” is cluttered, with competing percussive elements and hurried guitar work, but that’s essential to its appeal. Tonstartssbandht stretch the song to a jammy nine-and-a-half minutes, incorporating all sorts of incomprehensible vocal murmurings and rhythmic unpredictability. It reminds me of the aimless living room demos I’d make with my friends back in high school, and I mean that in the best possible way. Despite a band name that would suggest otherwise, Tonstartssbandht are the most absorbing type of approachable, the kind that you only realize just blew you away after the song already ends. So then you immediately start it back up again to relive the magic in real time. Listen below.
Sorcerer is out 3/24 via Mexican Summer.