girls names/weird dreams: split

Having released their debut album last year, Girls Names make a welcome return with the track “A Troubled See,” the first proper indication of where they’re heading with their next full-length, out later this year. Hinting at a shift away from their often mis-perceived surf and indie-pop roots, the band is moving toward something more akin to Krautrock and psychedelia. Indeed, they’ve expanded to a four-piece and have spent the last six months in virtual seclusion, honing a more progressive and expansive sound, feeding on the darker sides of Echo and The Bunnymen, Spacemen 3, The Birthday Party and David Bowie’s Low. Weird Dreams’ contribution is their first new material since April’s debut album, Choreography (Tough Love Records), which was lauded by Pitchfork as a “consistently rewarding, highly revelatory listen.” Known for their sophisticated song craft that charts a middle ground between the twisted buzz of The Soft Boys and the pastoral vibes of Real Estate, Weird Dreams have quickly marked themselves as one of the most exciting bands on the London circuit. Their longest track to date—an almost perverse endeavor given the format on which it features—”House of Secrets” is a slow-burning, sinister lullaby, buoyed by an insistent and spidery guitar line and replete with the rich, languorous vocals characteristic of the band.