Washer Get Straight to the Point with “Super Pop” (premiere)

Brevity is the soul of wit, and brevity can have heart as well. Indie rock has given us a number of key songs which don’t far exceed the minute mark that say so much in so little time. Think of the way Primal Scream’s “Velocity Girl” encapsulates an entire aesthetic, the Lemonheads’ “Bit Part” conveys such strong and specific emotion, or how the Futureheads summed up what they did best in the 105 seconds of “Le Garage”.

Similarly, “Super Pop” is DIY duo Washer in CliffNotes mode. One minute and 15 seconds is all singer-guitarist-bassist Mike Quigley and drummer Kieran McShane need to swing from palmed-string bedroom twang to sweaty basement show build-up, to a shout-along chorus worthy of early Superchunk and a final cathartic scream-out. “Super Pop” comes from the upcoming split 7″ between Washer and Bethlehem Steel (whose Becca Ryskalczyk joins in here on vocals), which has the two Brooklyn groups contributing a song and a cover of the other band each, and which will be the first 7″ that label Exploding in Sound has released in a while.

Mike Quigley shares about “Super Pop”: “I had been feeling bogged down by a nagging drive to avoid standards of pop songwriting. But sometimes you can kill a perfectly good hook trying to force it into something it’s not. Weird for the sake of being seen or heard as weird can be pretty dull. So we just let this one be what it was. The lyrics came after and in some sense are similar. Starts with a ritual for focusing yourself, trying to change or grow in some way. We can all reinvent ourselves if and when we need to, even if it seems impossible. You’ll be many different people throughout your life. Gotta let yourself try ’em all out.”

Washer / Bethlehem Steel Split 7 is out November 30th and is available for preorder from Exploding in Sound. Washer head out on tour with Rick Rude starting on Thursday, November 1st, at Rubalad in Brooklyn. Full tour dates below.

TOUR DATES

11/01 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rubalad w/ Human People, Rick Rude, & Matthew Danger Lippman

11/02 – Philadelphia, PA @ BLAMP w/ Rick Rude, Lester, & Missing Earth

11/03 – Baltimore, MD @ The Crown w/ Rick Rude, File Select, & Purrer

11/04 – Richmond, VA @ Cafe Astrology w/ Rick Rude

11/05 – Washington, DC @ Dougout w/ Rick Rude, BRNDA, & Mister Goblin

11/06 – New Brunswick, NJ @ In The West w/ Rick Rude, Secretary Legs, & Resounding No

11/07 – New Paltz, NY @ Crazy Dan’s Second Hand Hardcore w/ Rick Rude

11/08 – Boston, MA @ O’Brien’s w/ Rick Rude, Halfsour & Big Mess

11/10 – Rollinsford, NH @ Sue’s w/ Rick Rude, Notches & High Pony