Tereshkova - Intergalactic Letdown (2013)

Slowdive i The Jesus and Mary Chain propušteni kroz crnu rupu u sobnom krevetu.

lillernetapes.bandcamp.com/album/intergalactic-letdown

www.facebook.com/tereshkovaband

Both Lillerne Tapes and Teen River embrace the full spectrum of home recording, and the wide range of styles and sound quality that can exist under the 'bedroom' umbrella. Both labels can appreciate, and have released, everything from the scuzziest puddle, to the most pristine, clear musical lake. On 'Intergalactic Letdown', Jeff Lane and Tyler King of Tereshkova successfully manage to create an impeccably produced and mixed bedroom record that still wears its DIY, home-recorded quality as a badge. This full-length, sophomore effort is full of both smartly written and performed hooks, and carefully built, deep, psych-pop nods. 'Intergalactic Letdown' is sincere and infectiously catchy. Lane and King have the noisy pop sensibility down, and it's an honor to be able to co-release this with Teen River in an edition of 100 home-dubbed cassettes.

In the recent tradition of Chicago tape-gazers comes a new band of echoed ghosts called Tereshkova with one of the most depressingly-uplifting albums to come out in years. Years, I tells ya. Intergalactic Letdownmight be the most inspired sack of sorries in Bummer Town, everything trudging not only through generally slow tempos (although “Downtown” is a helluva burner), but downtrodden and exceedingly minor chord progressions. This is music that, though it does have a wispy, see-through air to it with melodies hovering all up in a hazy cloud, ends up weighing more than a semi-truck on Jupiter. There are keys, guitars, bass, drums, and vocals on this, but stripped-down arrangement styles make it seem more like the effects pedals are the real instruments or band members. That is, tunes aren’t defined so much by the chords as they are by all that tremolo and distortion piled on top of everything, all of it giving Intergalactic Letdown real mass and gravity. It’s an odd mix, somewhat unbalanced for sure, nearly tipping over with the effects all but hiding the actual songs themselves. But it doesn’t tip over, and those beautiful songs really do get their chance to shine through the thick panes of glass, producing pure rainbows on the other side. Early Yo La Tengo comes to mind, Beat Happening, Jesus & Mary Chain, twee as a style in general – that good, yes. One of the best albums of the year – yes. Sometimes I fear these little 300-word Cerberus posts are dooming these very good, very important releases to a cassette-chic category they might not be able to break out of, so let’s hope like hell that doesn’t happen here. There’s more great stuff out there, so cheer up indie-kid. Or don’t, whatever. - by Strauss 

When two of your favorite labels put out a release, you get one Intergalactic Letdown, except a boon. Talking dreamy noise pop on existential themes, Tereshkova meanders through humnan wonders of When We Die and Illuminations with dreamy vocals, paced bass and delicately dropped keys, pieces slowly gaining in noise accoutrements. Elsewhere, they take a familiar atmospheric rock route on Halogen, Broken Teeth & Downtown, not a whole lot new but it’ll fill the corners of your room.

Built with lush guitars, sharp synths, driving drum machines, dreamy vocals, and killer production … Tereshkova deliver tunes that could swim with Slowdive or drive with The Jesus and Mary Chain.

I’m drawn to the fuzzy play and quirk peppered throughout the album, that elevate Intergalactic Letdown above other opiated shoegaze releases. Panther, Poison and Lies & Existing Somewherehow do this best, taking them to natural highs with euphoric timbres and shuffling cadence, the real shine of this cassette. The rest of the tape volleys between synth and psychedelic rock with some sleepy but stand out slow jammers, Oh Andy and Red to Blue. Plenty here for your fall party mixes.
Pro-dubbed and printed, as always, the folks at Teen River and Lillerne really impress with this release. Sold out at Lillerne but still available from Teen River, but probably not long. ~ Vikram tapefamous.com/