Music Video: Cool Dad - "Self Hate Team"

Cool Dad - Self Hate Team

Sum up Cool Dad's debut EP, sweet boys, in just a few words and you'd fish for terms like cozy, languid and nostalgic. Not much has changed since its July release date: the latest Cool Dad single, accompanied by a music video, is made of the same somber, entrancing stuff: minimal guitaristry, tenuous emotion and a warbly, fuzzed out aesthetic. The video is a perfect match, the tape-recorded documentation of a few hours out at the arcade playing air hockey and putt-putt, reminiscent of Daniel LaRusso's trip to Golf 'N Stuff in The Karate Kid. It's a brief shot of warmth and innocence to the system, a video sure to put its viewer in a snug autumn mood.

Nadnerb/Cool Dad - "Sweet Boys 2014"

Nadnerb/Cool Dad - Sweet Boys 2014

(Self-Released 2014)

"The greatest of statements is the understatement" is an aphorism I've often applied to my favorite lo-fi records, and it's an especially adept way of summing up the vibe of this particular split. Each of the Connecticut-based solo acts that share their space on Sweet Boys 2014 brings their own blend of minimalist garage rock to the table, but there's a single trait that bonds them together: simplicity. The whole album is brief, catchy and modest and no song overstays it welcome. Nadnerb and Cool Dad are frugal with their riffs, working each one to its full potential before the song's end. Cool Dad occupies the small overlap in the map of the lo-fi universe that houses the influence of Pavement and Blank Dogs. The power chords are guttural and chunky, complimenting wiry and slightly sour guitar leads. It's twee-pop at heart, but isn't afraid to employ a bit of punk-rock bite to get its point across. Nardnerb's aesthetic is a bit grungier, piling on the treble in the Dinosaur Jr-esque "Spells". "Slack Fresh" is a groovy surf-pop jam that wobbles and warbles like a Ducktails tune. Sweet Boys is chock-full of bummer-pop melancholia to get you through your autumn.