All there is to know about Pure Bathing
Culture is contained in "Pendulum," the track that opens the duo's debut
full-length. A heartthrob drum-machine pattern introduces Daniel
Hindman's glistening, heavily chorused guitar, with singer-keyboardist
Sarah Versprille's synth-hums and New Age-y lyrics (something about
pentacles and fortune tellers and blue wood) passing through it like
sunlight through swaying blinds, leading to a swooning, cloud-bursting
chorus. It's one of the best Portland singles of the year, and every
song that follows on Moon Tides is a variant of it, with slight
tints in mood: a tad more downcast on "Twins" and "Seven to One," a bit
sprightlier on "Only Lonely Lovers," a sprig more enigmatic on "Temples
of the Moon." It can get repetitious, but it's like peering at the ocean
at sunset: Do you really ever want the view to change?
HEAR IT: Moon Tides is out Tuesday, Aug. 20.
WWeek 2015