Premiere: Tide Bends dissect new EP, ‘Say Yeah’
The rock band gives a track-by-track preview of their brand-new EP.
A coolness emanates from Tide Bends‘ new EP. Say Yeah drenches the listener in waves of sonic pleasure. “We’re staring into the light,” whispers frontman Dave Hough on the opening track “Birthday,” in which the four-piece escapes from the mundanity of existence. The muted, yet titillating, performance positions the EP as a necessary reprieve from life and offers up gummy jam-band rock ‘ roll.
Across the project, Tide Bends dabble in various colors – from the zip-lining “Glass Jaw” to the spiraling, almost psychedelic, “Grasshopper.” Hough and the band – comprised of Dan Nolan (drums), MJ Hancock (bass), and Rudy Meir (guitar, synths) – stitch agonizingly raw lyrics into the musical fabric to boost the project as a case study of human nature in modern times.
Say Yeah floats away on good vibes, as you’ll witness with closer “On Repeat.” It’s sticky sweet and succulent but reedy and rooted in the earth. Say Yeah doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Rather, it shatters conventions and forges an electric new path through the ragged underbrush of indie-rock music.
Below, the Tide Bends frontman walks us through the new EP, track-by-track.
“Birthday”
Another song that came out of a jam – I think on Rudy’s birthday, hence the name. ‘Birthday’ is my foray into having another vocal on a song and what it brought was breadth. The lyrics kinda center around day-to-day-ness if that’s a term… escapism. Early on, there was a lot of the Jesus and Mary Chain vibe on this one, although I’m not sure it was notable there in the end.
“Glass Jaw”
This song came out of a riff. It was fun to jam, and that main riff felt good in that sort of kick-drum-lead-the-way groove. A vocal melody popped its head around the door, and MJ threw in a harmony, which created some good lift to the chorus. Lyrical contents were steeped with some interesting family revelations that came to the surface. It all fell into place easily.
“Grasshopper”
I think I was waiting for an Amazon delivery before a rehearsal, and I started messing with what became the main rhythm riff. We warmed up with it at rehearsal, and it pieced itself together without any fuss. I can definitely hear a lot of the John Squire (Stone Roses) I’d been listening to at that time. Go figure. I’d put a good spiraly breakdown in every song if I could.
“No Clue”
The song title reflects how this song came together piece by piece and didn’t have much intention behind it at the outset. Maybe it should have been two or three different songs, but I dug the juxtaposition of the parts. I actually wrote and demoed the lion’s share of this at home. Dan insisted on learning the programmed drums, which wasn’t easy, and he didn’t have to. Lyrically, I wanted it to have a vibe of overwhelmed-ness. Outside pressures, fleeting time, the need for a 36-hour day… and the welcome distraction a really special person can bring at a time of perceived chaos.
“On Repeat”
Probably my favorite song off the EP. Another one I’d demoed at home and was happy with the state of it as is, but when the band got under it the feeling and the emotional response really came forward for me. It became watery and kinda moved on its own. The culty undertones combined with good old-fashioned substance-infused-confusion-inspired lyrics are fun to recite. It’s very olfactory.
