Promote This: Asterhouse, Moon Dial and somesurprises
Promote This is a long-running NadaMucho.com feature wherein we write about songs and videos by emerging and unsigned bands. This installment includes Asterhouse, Moon Dial and somesurprises.
Asterhouse – “1778” and “None of Your Business”
Kenmore, Wash. adult alternative rock trio Asterhouse formed in 2009 and released their latest EP Errors That Smile in June 2017. Opening track “1778” starts off with some awesome synth tones that quickly segue into private school journal vocals over a languid placebo grade psychedelic groove. Nice people, I’m sure they’re deep in their way, but five minutes is a long wait for the great “Hey Jude” outro and, even then, they make the mistake of singing over the “oohs.”
“I was not impressed with anyone who tried to know me” is a line from “None of Your Business,” the EP’s third track. Personally, I’ve been told worse by better. “I hate this business” too you guys.
Props to these guys for cultivating a professional sound, regularly putting out recordings and tirelessly performing live. Maybe these efforts will be enough to win your patronage. But I’m not convinced. – Daren Selector
https://asterhouse.bandcamp.com/track/none-of-your-business
https://soundcloud.com/asterhousemusic/1778a
Moon Dial – “Black Star”
Moon Dial’s Twitter bio simply says “High Quality Indie Band,” which is a tricky thing since there are liars in this world so sometimes you need to do your due diligence. Luckily, if you go down this rabbithole, you’ll quickly learn that this statement is 100 percent true. Moon Dial’s “Black Star” appears towards the final third of Nice Day Pretty Colors, their most recent album, and it sounds like Joe Casey from Protomartyr fronting Local Natives; emotive, fully realized, and engaging. – Cameron Deuel
https://moondial.bandcamp.com/track/black-star
somesurprises – “mayor skipped town / srs drms”
Two things become immediately clear when somesurprises lulls you into the murky abyss of “mayor skipped town / srs drms”: 1. Headphones 2. Louder. While the Seattle-based psych-drone outfit started as the solo project of Natsha El-Sergany, their latest release, entitled serious dreams, enlists more musicians for a richer, more sophisticated sound. To listen to this track is to feel weightless, as though you’re drifting through the ocean without any reason to come up for air. #41for2017 – Cameron Deuel
(Note: The image at the top of this post is somesurprises performing live in September 2017. It was taken by Moshin Ali.)
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