The Garden Release 'Mirror Might Steal Your Charm'
Once again leaving genre boundaries in the dust, The Garden twins return with Mirror Might Steal Your Charm, out today via Epitaph Records. Taking the audience away into a still unfathomed sound world and bringing back some of the scuzzier elements of their earlier work, the duo’s more guitar focused third album is another sublime slice of post-modern pop. Welcome back to a land that’s familiar, slightly out of sync, and a little bit unnerving.
Wyatt and Fletcher Shears (24) have been conceptualizing their own style since well before the formation of the band in 2011. Described as auditory invaders of the new world; borderless, informed and decentralized, the duo represent a youthful punk scene in California with their DIY principles, thrift store-cum-glam fashion style and a vast list of influences. While 2013’s Life And Times Of A Paperclip offered a glimpse into their breakbeat-propelled world of electro-punk anarchy, it was their innovative Epitaph debut Haha(2015) that proved them to be much more than style over substance, sadistically teasing all essences of musical genres into 17 wonderfully chaotic tracks.
Mirror Might Steal Your Charm was self-produced and recorded in a lockout studio in one short burst. "I think it’s healthy as an artist to switch up your environment once in a while. The production is tight as a whistle, but also more raw” offers Wyatt. "The process made for a more focused and personal sounding record, with a healthy dose of guitar throughout. Things are a little more refined. If we aren’t implementing past experience into new situations then we aren’t learning. Progress is very appealing to us,” adds Fletcher. Abrasive yet slick album opener “Stallion” wastes no time kicking things off, while the innocent message of “Make A Wish” is nicely juxtaposed by a hard-hitting and menacing soundtrack. The band declare ‘Shameless Shadow’ as a definite shapeshifter. “The song never stops and is almost reminiscent to a musical of some sort. The message behind it reads "Why waste your time when you have all the tools you need in front of you?” “Call The Dogs Out” is classic Garden, its minimalist two-piece bass and drums and jumping time signatures causing mayhem amidst a cacophony or barks. Elsewhere “Stylish Spit” effortlessly blends bombastic beats with a menacing western guitar riff and first single “No Destination”’s twinkly piano melody offers dreamy respite from the song's serious undertone.
The Garden strip off everything unnecessary about modern punk and get straight to the heart of it, consistently defying categorization and breaking new ground with their own ‘Vada Vada’ philosophy, an idea that represents pure creative expression, disregarding all previously made genres and ideals. This is outsider music made from the inside, and when the multitude of sounds collide at pace, the results are spectacular.
The Garden Tour Dates
Mar 29 San Diego, CA - SOMA
Mar 30 Los Angeles, CA - Regent
Mar 31 San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
Apr 03 Portland, OR - Analog Theater
Apr 04 Vancouver, BC - The Cobalt
Apr 06 Boise, ID - The Olympic
Apr 07 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
Apr 08 Denver, CO - Marquis Theater
Apr 10 Lawrence, KS - Granada Theater
Apr 11 Burnsville, MN - The Garage
Apr 12 Chicago, IL - 1st Ward at Chop Shop
Apr 13 Detroit, MI - Shelter
Apr 14 Toronto, ON - Hard Luck
Apr 15 Allston, MA - Great Scott
Apr 17 Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry
Apr 18 Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel
Apr 19 Washington, DC - DC9
Apr 20 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
Apr 21 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
Apr 22 Tampa, FL - Crowbar
Apr 23 Margate, FL - O’Malley’s
Apr 25 New Orleans, LA - Hi-Ho Lounge
Apr 26 Houston, TX - Walter’s
Apr 27 San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger
Apr 28 Austin, TX - Barracuda
Apr 29 Dallas, TX - Club Dada
May 01 Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf
May 02 Phoenix, AZ - The Rebel Lounge
May 04 Santa Ana, CA - Observatory
May 25 Seattle, WA - Sasquatch
3/29/18 - 5/4/18 The Garden Album Release Tour ft. Tijuana Panthers & Cowgirl Clue