Lightheaded
WISH 37 » released October 2023
DIGITAL » Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon MusicThe Dream of the Sixties is stupid. Love? Freedom? Revolution? Peace? We're still fighting for all those things, fifty years on, and we're going to be fighting for them until the sun eats the earth. Nostalgia is and has been a killer; always move forward. And yet, that sound… the sound still remains so vital, to so many.
Enter Lightheaded. The tiny tolling bells of the Byrds' Rickenbacker guitars are enough to sound the alarm for the in-crowd, but it's that simple stomp of the early Kinks that really resonates, and that's what the boys and girls of Lightheaded are after. They move their sound forward with quasi-hypnotic rhythms, sitting delicately behind singing that sounds like Dusty Springfield coming from a record player across a bedroom in New Jersey.
Stephen on guitar and Cynthia on bass are the core of the group, coming together in that classic case of two people's former bands ending and starting something new from the wreckage. Going eye for eye for years while composing almost fifty cassette demos to their repertoire, the two developed into a Brill Building duo; with the guitarist functioning as the poet, while the chanteuse with four strings occupying the role of musical director. The final piece of the puzzle is Sara, adding a distinct warm blanket of vocal harmony while rippling a unique fingerstyle lead on the guitar that can be cotton-soft or fire-harsh, depending on what context the song calls for.
And in Lightheaded, the songs have come a-callin'. Together, the groop of cassette pop enthusiasts have been spending their time creating tunes that float through your ears with the charm of Dolly Mixture. Their first batch of stupid pop songs about love and revolution, titled "Good Good Great!", feels as wistful and impactful as getting lost on a midnight bike ride under a full moon, while running into your crush as you find your way home.
- Jeff Schroeck