The Melbourne alt-rock quartet Quivers gained some attention in 2021 when fellow Melbourne indie artist Courtney Barnett admitted her music video was a lot like theirs. Now they’ve signed to Merge for the release of new album Oyster Cuts, and lead single “Apparition” is quite nice. The slightly twangy, lackadaisical vibe puts them squarely in the Pavement zone — as do hooks that rhyme “oh my god, oh my god” with “everybody’s got, everybody’s got” and break out into a wordless “woo-ooh” melody. There’s also a bit of cheery early 2010s Grouplove/Of Monsters And Men-type energy in the song that I will forgive because it’s mighty catchy, because the guitars are extremely classic rock, and because I like the lyric “Do you turn into an apparition without the smoke?”

“Apparition” arrives with a low-budget music video, about which Quivers explain:

We made the filmclip for “Apparition” ourselves over two days with a borrowed Handicam. In our excitement to join our dream label, Merge, we thought it best to make no big moves, just deliver a $0 filmclip and be ourselves, albeit in homemade ghost owl costumes. The song is about trying to move on even while taking your ghosts with you, a realization that even grief has humor in it. It’s also a commitment to friendship, and playing in a band, and the idea that songs will clear the smoke and hold us together sometimes.

Watch below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Never Be Lonely”
02 “Pink Smoke”
03 “More Lost”
04 “Apparition”
05 “Grief Has Feathers”
06 “Oyster Cuts”
07 “Screensaver”
08 “If Only”
09 “Fake Flowers”
10 “Reckless”

Oyster Cuts is out 8/9 via Merge.