Sometimes it’s easy to pin a band’s general vibe down to a single song. If you asked me to pick one out for Shya, I’d say their 2015 track “High At Oberlin” feels pretty indicative of their general “thing.” Beyond its often-hyperbolized and wildly-lampooned stereotypes of student activism, the college has always been home to one of the region’s more exciting DIY communities. As the track happily demonstrates, there’s something special about that bleary-eyed, leaf-covered, college-campus-in-October feeling that drugs—and the friends that you do them with—can really intensify.
Two years, two albums, and one move to Brooklyn later, the band has only gotten more adventurous, introducing moody synths and chorus petals into its growing four-piece lineup. “Coydog,” the album’s second single, comes with a shimmer of psychedelia, taking cues from acts like Porches, Hoops, and fellow Oberlin alumni Swings as it drifts through gorgeous chord changes. “Lets quit talking / lets go home / tired of dancing through the phone,” sings frontman Nate Sher with a gentle falsetto. It’s an earnest track about internet lovers that, even in its simplicity, never looses its central charm.
Big Car, the band’s forthcoming full-length record, is out November 17 via Yellow K Records. Check out “Coydog” below.
https://soundcloud.com/yellowkrecords/coydog/s-P66Zl
