The Growlers‘ Chinese Fountain won’t be out until fall, but the laid-back SoCal surf punks have let loose the album’s first single just in time for summer. On “Big Toe,” the band picks up where their nine-song Gilded Pleasures EP left off in November, delivering another trademark nugget of salt-water psychedelia, entrancing listeners with a compelling groove as singer Brooks Nielsen croons atop with slacker swagger. Not all’s peachy, though. There’s an ominous tone here, as he slanders his subject in a narrator’s voice, telling listeners, “She’s a lost cause, so count your losses.”
Chatting with Nielsen last month, SPIN learned the new album was created in typical break-neck fashion. But for the first time that’s stuck (as opposed to that long lost Dan Auerbach session), the band recorded with “nice equipment” in a modern studio. It’s not squeaky clean, by any means, but it definitely doesn’t sound like crap. They’re growing up and getting their act together, apparently. And it sounds damn good.
Listen here:
