Cindy are a band constantly operating in a state of flux. A band who knows what works best for them, while the cynics may view this attitude as a lack of plan B, over the San Francisco band’s four albums, it’s more of an expansion on plan A.
Cindy know their strengths, and from 2018’s self-titled debut to their latest, Why Not Now, they have played to them with great effect, as the Tough Love mainstays, led by vocalist and brainchild Karina Gill, and backed by Aaron Diko, Mike Ramos and Stanley Martinez splice together the ideas of twee and psychedelic dream rock.
Essentially, Cindy are a band where your favourite record dosen’t apply; each bleeding into the next. It’s a discography you need to spend an afternoon with. Never mind the noise about new music Friday and its 50 others releases. Let the sun enter the room, turn the volume up and go about your day with Cindy’s music as the backdrop, because few bands will prove better company.
Take the homespun spirit of Caller103 from the band’s self-titled debut, and on Why Not Now, that continues throughout these 10 tracks in what forms the comfort blanket you never thought was needed.
Cindy - Why Not NowWith the first note of the opening title track, instantly Cindy draws us in. A Sunday-morning swoon of a song that – in the moment – you simply can’t live without. With windchime guitars, Standard Candle #3 follows the same lead, drifting through the room like a summer breeze.
The front porch sway continues with Earthly Belonging and Wednesday – both slacker jangle-pop jams that become etched to the mind. So too the slow, sombre strum of August and A Trumpet on the Hillside. Both tracks not just Why Not Now’s highlights. They are the best songs the band has written.
The glory years worship begins with The Price is Right and Playboy – both cascading with a medieval Velvet Underground chime mixed a Jefferson Airplane thrum. Then there’s the upbeat Et surtout – a catchy organ-led gallop inspired by Serge Gainsbourg. It leads into closing track, Standard Candle #4. Part hymnal, part hippified, the track emerges from the thick fog like a gentle light that imbues hope.
Why Not Now is another fine turnout from a band that don’t do filler. Gill’s messages, inspired by the mundane but someone she fills these moments with magic. With a repertoire of songs every record collection needs, Cindy and their solemn serenades wouldn’t look out of place supporting the likes of Julie Byrne in one of those nights filled with infinite possibilities; moments that are growing far less across the live music landscape.
In solitude one could do a lot worse than to include Why Not Now in their world: a record that slowly creeps into the consciousness, and once it’s there, it won’t shift.
Why Not Now is out now via Tough Love. Purchase from Bandcamp.
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