Posted on: April 11, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Southport, NC indie duo SWTHRT are excited to release the first single from their debut album, Compact Disc. “Boys With Problems” is now available for free download from Bandcamp. The first single also includes a B-side, an acoustic version of the album track, “I Hate This”. Compact Disc will see a full free download release later this month on April 25th. Physical copies will also be available for purchase.

The band lovingly put together a making of the album video for Compact Disc.

Also, the band has made available their first recording, a cover of Beat Happening’s “Indian Summer”. The song can be downloaded on Bandcamp as well.

Rising from the indie/punk of his full-time band, Museum Mouth, Karl Kuehn creates something a bit different with SWTHRT. What started out as a senior graduation project for keyboardist Becca High, turned into a real band after only a few days of writing/recording between the two friends. With that, the new wave/shoegaze pop of SWTHRT was officially born. Echoing influences like New Order, The Cure and late period Joy Division, SWTHRT carries on the DIY/punk aesthetic of Museum Mouth while pushing the new wave tendencies to the foreground.

Recorded in the mountains of North Carolina, Compact Disc simmers with youthful frustration. There is a real dichotomy with Kuehn’s deep vocals resonating over the instantly affecting guitar and keyboard driven hooks of the band. The airy instrumental swells carry you far away while the duo’s restless lyrical stylings slowly bring you back down to earth. With both Kuehn and High in transitional phases of their lives, Compact Disc serves as a cathartic project for them both. It also serves as quite the magical beginning for SWTHRT.

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