Fresh Stream

CHECK IT: JEANS WILDER

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San Diego resident and former Fantastic Magic bandmate (along with WAVVES and Heavy Hawaii) Mr. Andrew Chaddick, aka JEANS WILDER, just dropped his first full length in two years, and boy is it a doozy. Totally, released off Everloving, is a mellow and understated, but excellently crafted album that appears to encapsulate the . The instrumental opener Blue Dream sets the tone for the record, with electric waves calmly lapping the shore as warm summer winds sing through aquatic synth chords to form at aural womb gestating quiet pleasures to come. The rest of the album is full of succinct sunbleached doo-wop jammers that tickle in all the right places. His songs are minimal in construction, with a vaguely reminiscent sample or filtered drum loop serving as the backbone of each track, slowly weighing them down until they’re half-submerged in the crashing reverb waves. The drums kick with a raw energy, and the guitar licks cascade with ease, but everything sounds so far away, as if in a half-forgotten dream or imagined memory. It makes for breezy, bucolic music, perfect for that long ride home, when the sun’s heat leaves you exhausted but content. However, it’s Chaddick’s singing that catapults these tunes up and over the gurgling heap of bedroom beat afterthoughts; his effervescent crooning, reminiscent of Noah Lennox, carries the groove along, giving it a dreamy sheen as well as an emotional resonance that is impossible to fake. It might be easy to write this off, just another lo-fi beachhead with a clever moniker moaning into an 8-track, but give this one a chance, it’ll surprise you with its depth and narcotic effectiveness. Enjoy.

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