Jason Morgan (Bays) has been releasing excellent music as The Spires (Ventura, California) since the early 2000s. Seriously, this is some of the most consistently good pop I've heard over the past 20 years.
"Index" is the new 7" from The Spires. It comes hot on the heels of the CD/Cassette "Woke Up Strange" last June.
It's funny, I know the Velvet Underground and The Chills are among Jason's favorite bands. But his music doesn't really sound like either. And his vocals/melodies are unmistakably his own. I would say that Rat Columns, The Planes and Tam Vantage are the bands I listen to that most remind me of The Spires.
Artificial Light is releasing this extremely limited lathe cut 7".
Typhoon at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver, Artificial Light was their encore (I'm still freaking out about this show that I drove 2000 kilometers for)
I was a modern human; harsh artificial light spoke to me of fast food and big-box stores and public schools and gas stations. The light called up memories of nametags and advertisements and things on sale for something-or-another-.99. I could almost smell the industrial cleaner. They weren’t nostalgic memories, not by a long stretch, but they were memories of a safer, saner time.
Erin Ampersand, Making Friends: Apocalypse Parenting Book Two
Christopher Soukup captures empty urban landscapes, in which artificial light takes the place of the human figure, determining its presence even in its absence.
Jason Morgan, the mainstay behind The Spires, just keeps churning out great music, year after year after year. And from what I can tell, he and his band aren't at all motivated by the standard version of success. I think The Spires (Ventura, California) are perfectly content to make music that frequently sells out smallish batches.
I know Jason is a huge fan of Flying Nun and The Chills, although I wouldn't say that their sound is particularly reminscent of this. Perhaps the songwriting structure and melodies can recall Martin Phillips or The Verlaines. Pony in the Pancake is the band that most directly reminds me of The Spires.
This CD (and later a cassette) is being released by Jason's label - Artificial Light.