Tears Run Rings

Band with a terrible name that you were hesitant to listen to because of their terrible name, then realized that a name is just a name and even good bands have really bad names sometimes:

Modest Mouse

Your musical frame of reference stretches about as wide as a popsicle stick. Your favorite post-hardcore band is Title Fight. Your favorite shoegaze band is Title Fight. Your favorite punk band is Title Fight. Your favorite hardcore band is Turnstile, but Title Fight is a close second. As much as you tried to fight it, you love the vibey tracks on Hyperview, so you want to hear a band that sounds like that:

Hyperview-era Title Fight

Band you should rip off if you want instant credibility, or be discovered by this shitty blog:

Slowdive 

Band you should listen to: Tears Run Rings

I’m an expert on terrible band names. So I know better than to dismiss a band just because their name is god awful.

Most times, I’m wrong. But, every now and again, I’m reminded that it’s a good rule to live by.

When I heard Mind the Wires from Tears Run Rings, my first thought was “holy Slowdive,” which is always an awesome reaction to have when hearing a band for the first time. I will never get tired of hearing a band that sounds like Slowdive, or Chapterhouse, or Kitchens of Distinction, or (insert late 80’s/early 90’s era shoegaze band). My second thought was “What the fuck does that name mean? I hope it’s some literary reference I’m not smart enough to understand.”

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a sucker for good sounding recordings, especially recordings that really capture a band’s sound. Too often, bands that are going for the vibey, ethereal sound go to record with their friend that only records hardcore bands. The result is usually a recording that sounds like a shitty hardcore band that went to guitar center before the gig and bought a used Holy Grail without realizing how to use it.

That’s not the case with Tears Run Rings.

Music, to me, is at its most effective when it’s transformative. A good record is supposed to take you somewhere, and Always, Sometimes, Seldom, Never, the debut record from this band from 2008, does that to me. It’s a stereotypically dreary late Autumn day in New York, and I couldn’t be more content to have this record on in the backdrop.

It appears as though the band is still active and is actually going to release a new album this week.