In an age when brands of shoe-gaze are customized like luxury SUVs, it is refreshing to hear
one that sounds absolutely nothing like My Bloody Valentine. Containing less fuzz, the guitar work instead washes a wet twang resembling 1960s surf music. On their second album Tender New Signs, the Californian duo Tamaryn have grown a hot, distant garden of sounds truly intended for this moment in time. An oasis of unfettered ataraxia in the center of the apocalypse on the steep edge of western society. Expansive and tranquil, “I’m Gone” is as spiritually disassociating as its title.
A light tambourine chimes along as “I’m Gone” gently sails though arid and serene spaces of guitar bliss. The leads sound completely free yet very attentive, and such delicacy creates a style that sounds original and modern. Tamaryn’s pneumatic vocals slur “in sheds of light / in tender sight / tell me when I’m gone” in a seemingly joyful state of sedation. Despite the soothing sonic textures, the tempo of the song is just driving enough for it to feel like rock ‘n’ roll music.
Tamaryn is the name of the New Zealand born vocalist, whose graceful voice is equally eerie and mesmerizing. She met Rex Shelverton in San Francisco, who would become her producer/musical partner, and in 2010 together they released The Waves on Mexican Summer. Prior to his work with Tamaryn, Shelverton played guitar in the influential emo band Portraits of Past and several other acts. Oh how the great indie wave has chilled us out. Is it better to escape the darkness in one’s own peaceful realm instead of cathartically expressing the darkness? Shelverton has proven that one can do both. Tamaryn’s second album Tender New Signs was just released on Mexican Summer and contains eight more songs just as wonderful as this one.