The organic find of a band’s identity is as crucial to its success as landing on a name that speaks to you, if not for you. Laced, a brand new project featuring Beach Fossils’ Dustin Payseur, Ian Judd (co-founder of Couple Skate Records), and Ryan Naideau (Warthog, Nude Beach), is a middle ground met upon from indie, punk and surf backgrounds, and falls into a post-punk milieu quite naturally, having formed the majority of their first single, “Clear,” during their first time playing together. The track, off their debut S/T 7” EP (out October 30 on Payseur’s own Bayonet Records), opens with the beautiful choral guitar sound that permeates most of their sound, immediately opening worlds of both timeless heartache and innocent wonder. But steady driving rhythms and vocal coldness create auras that hint at the inescapable distaste and malaise of a punk backdrop, a unique, and lustrous contrast to the ethereal chords and dancing guitar picking of the verses. The chorus refrains are as bottle rocket explosions sent soaring in high pangs of guitar and swirling cymbal hits, and you can almost see, or taste the sustaining notes, a certain synesthesia given the moniker under which you listen.
