by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
There’s been a big resurgence of jangly power-pop and paisley tinged garage pop coming out of San Francisco and the Bay Area the past few years, and The Umbrellas are certainly a big part of it. Last year saw the quartet release their full length debut (following an EP back in 2019) via Slumberland Records (Jeanines, Artsick, Papercuts), an album that distilled pop into vibrant colors and punchy garage inflected nuggets. Fans of both the retro sound of garage pop, from the days of psych rock’s original heyday to those in tuned with the New Zealand indie pop sound of the genre all found something to love in The Umbrellas’ sing-along tales of lost love and seasonal bliss. Less than a year later, the band are back with “Write It In The Sky,” a new 7” single due out June 24th.
Their latest single continues the band’s instantly catchy songwriting while adding in a bit of fuzz, beefing up their sun soaked jangle ever so slightly with added grit. Make no mistake, this is still indie pop at its most welcoming, there’s just a triumphant layer of feedback added for some shoegazy textures. The driving rhythm propels the distortion’s warm blanketing of melody, as the band use their newfound density to layer their signature harmonies in a way that truly “pops”. The fuzz really gives another purpose to their rattled hooks, with everything landing just a bit harder, sitting like pop glue from ear to ear.
Speaking about the song, the band shared:
“The instrumental and melody for “Write it in the Sky” was improvised one morning by Matt [Ferrara]. The song makes use of droning via the guitars' A and high E strings. While recording we strived to create an abrasive but beautiful production. We even have a track of Morgan [Stanley] just making feedback.
Nick [Oka] and Matt wrote the lyrics together. The verses alternate between the two ... the first section by Matt, the second by Nick and so on. The lyrics to the chorus were written collaboratively while walking back from Taco Bell on Geary... repeating different variations until "write in the sky" stuck.”
Tour Dates:
6/25 – Oakland, CA @ Golden Bull / Oakland Weekender
8/03 – Costa Mesa, CA @ The Wayfarer *#
8/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon *#
8/06 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *#
8/11 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir *%
8/12 – Seattle, WA @ Vera Project *%
* = w/ Papercuts
# = w/ Chime School
% = w/ The Reds, Pinks & Purples