If you spend enough time lounging at the beach, you'll notice a strange tension between the warm, peaceful feeling of the sun beating down on you and the slightly menacing sound of seagulls doing…whatever the fuck seagulls do. This tension is evoked beautifully in the latest single from Los Angeles shoegaze quartet Goon. "Garden of Our Neighbor'' pairs writer/producer Kenny Becker's hushed vocals with lulling melodies, immersive synths, and—you guessed it—seagull sounds. The title, meanwhile, is a nod to a secret show the band played, billed as Garden of Our Neighbor, ahead of a gig with Frankie and the Witch Fingers back in August.
"I wrote and recorded this song entirely in one night," recalls Becker. "I met up with our drummer Andy [Polito] at our rehearsal spot that day, recorded him drumming along to a simple MIDI chord progression, had the chords on a loop, and recorded him drumming into the TASCAM five minutes at a time. I got really excited by the idea of having strong contrast between intimate, small vocals and massive synths and drums. Vocally, I was really going for a Sparklehorse vibe: up close, super dry, not double-tracked. Not something I’ve really tried much before, but I love how it came out."
The accompanying visual is a sun-baked blur of glinting water and colorful projections. "This video was basically conceived, shot, and edited all within the span of one week," says Becker of the production, which centers on the LA River. "I knew going in that I wanted it to be completely devoid of narrative, and to just basically be an interesting series of pictures that provides a setting and aesthetic for the song. Also, being our first new music in over two years, it felt right to try and visually depict the new things we’ve been trying in the music. It was a super DIY vibe. Our brilliant friend Josh Drew filmed and shot everything. I edited and colored it in, like, 48 hours, and turned it in right at the deadline. It came out of the oven so recently that it’s still warm."
"Garden of Our Neighbor" is the first glimpse of Goon's forthcoming Paint by Numbers, Vol. 1, due February 25. You can pre-save/pre-order it here.
