Guidon Bear is something of a 1990s Olympia indie-pop supergroup. Featuring Mary Water (who released one fantastic album as Little Red Car Wreck in 1997) and veteran drummer/producer/guru Pat Maley (The Lois, K Records),as well as E. Michael Bradley, they recently released their debut cassette, Downwardly Mobile:Steel Accelerator. The album is an interesting little sonic experiment–fully developed songs are nestled in between little sonic snippets that are equally as engaging–but when Waters steps up to sing her songs, it’s as if one’s transported back in time to the mid-90s indie rock scene; it’s not hard to put the music found here next to the best of Jenny Toomey (Tsunami, Liquorice), Rebecca Gates (The Spinanes), Mary Lou Lord, and, yes, The Lois. I really love “My Banality,” an anthem of frustration about middle-aged life and the struggles of day-to-day living. In fact, the whole album is about the foibles and frustrations of daily life, and if you want to get a good understanding of it all, I highly suggest checking out the accompanying comic book that serves as an interesting insight into what is one of the truly delightful hidden treasures of 2019.
The Recoup 
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