Philly’s Bleary Eyed, the project of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Nathaniel Salfi, is inching ever-closer towards accessibility while not sacrificing the experimental spirit that’s been cultivating their fan base up and down the east coast underground. Their latest release, a self-titled EP, comes out Friday, March 10th on local indie imprint Born Losers Records, and the singles so far from it have shown the band emerging from the thrilling foggy frenzy that defined their early work with clearer tones and a greater penchant for hooks than ever; they’re still weird, for sure, but a more friendly sort of weird.
Last week, the band’s new single “Wreck” hit YouTube, and its crunchy guitar tones crackle and buzz like mid-period Alex G, or their contemporaries TAGABOW; underneath the grit is a warm melody, albeit with a melancholic perspective. As Salfi told Brooklyn Vegan, the song “delves into themes about struggling family members and seeing sisters/brothers go through intense periods whether with relationships, drug use, ect. The song itself is a mix of fuzz and synth heavy pop that culminates in a chaotic ending of layers of fuzz, synth, drums, guitar.”
The video bright, colorful, and heady, following the band in fisheye-lens view as it rides on the back of a truck around city streets and park spaces; watch below, and look for Bleary Eyed as it kicks off a U.S. tour this Friday, stopping at Sleeping Village in Chicago, Inner Space in Atlanta, Pie Shop in D.C. and more, culminating in a PhilaMOCA homecoming on March 12th. More information on that show can be found at WXPN’s Concerts and Events page; pre-order the EP here.