Andy Molholt twists vast assortments of wonky sounds into kaleidoscopic psych-pop as Laser Background, and later this week he'll release a whole batch of knotty new tunes on his album Dark Nuclear Bogs (an anagram of the band name). It'll serve as the follow-up to last year's deliciously dizzying Correct and finds Molholt softening some of the project's rougher edges to make for a listen equally as inventive but that goes down a bit easier.
"Francine" is a mid-tempo ballad that manages to blend warbly ringing and a geometric guitar line into a dreamy mosaic. Meanwhile "Climb The Hill" uses Saturday morning cartoon keyboards alongside a relentless drum machine to create a melodiously twisted fantasy. And on "Slubberdeguillion," Moholt throws his voice through a blearing processor to sound like nothing short of an intoxicating nightmare. Altogether, the album congeals into a remarkably holistic listen. As Molholt explains:
The first track “Mostly Water” is meant to be a song about birth, about beginning anew, and the last track “Bright Field” is very specifically about death. So there is a bit of a journey to this album, and a lot of self-reflection. I intentionally repeated words, phrases, musical ideas, etc. in different spots on the record.
Listen and check out the band's upcoming tour dates below.
Tour dates:
04/25 - Annandale-on-Hudson - Bard College / Root Cellar ^
04/27 - Boston, MA - The ER ^
04/28 - Ridgewood, NY - Trans-Pecos ^
04/29 - Philadelphia, PA - Baird Mansion Atrium ^ %
04/30 - Pittsburgh, PA - Brillobox ^
05/01 - Lakewood, OH - Mahall's ^
05/02 - Detroit, MI - El Club ^
05/03 - Toronto, ON - Smiling Buddha ^
05/04 - Montreal, QC - Le Ritz PDB ^
05/05 - Winooski, VT - Waking Windows ^
05/06 - Bloomington, IL - Secret Farm show ^
05/07 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle ^
05/08 - Milwaukee - The Local Club Anything
05/09 - Rock Island, IL - Rozz-Tox
05/10 - St. Louis, MO - Foam
05/11 - Hot Springs, AR - Maxine's
05/12 - Fayetteville, AR - Backspace
05/13 - Dallas, TX - Armoury D.E.
05/14 - Austin, TX - Hotel Vegas
05/15 - San Antonio, TX - Limelight
05/16 - Houston, TX - Walter's Downtown
05/17 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia
05/18 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl %
05/19 - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
05/20 - Raleigh, NC - Ruby Deluxe
05/21 - Richmond, VA - Gallery5
05/24 - Arcata, CA - Richards' Goat Tavern
05/25 - Portland, OR - The Know #
05/26 - Seattle, WA - Lo-Fi Performance Gallery #
05/27 - Vancouver, BC - Hidden City Records #
05/28 - Olympia, WA - Le Voyeur
05/31 - Sacramento, CA - Starlite Lounge ?
06/01 - San Francisco - Different Fur Studios
06/02 - Oakland, CA - Eli's Mile High Club
06/03 - Los Angeles, CA - TBA
07/07 - Brooklyn, NY - The Glove ?
07/08 - College Park, MD - The Void ?
07/09 - Philadelphia, PA - Everybody Hits ?
^ w/ Norwegian Arms
% w/ Breathers
# w/ Jo Passed
? w/ Pregnant
Dark Nuclear Bogs is out 4/28 via Mutual Crush/Endless Daze. Pre-order it here.
