HEAR THIS: CINDY

July 26. 2021 | By Wayne Jessup

On the heels of last year’s breakout/break through Free Advice, SF’s Cindy has a devastating new single, “To Be True”, laying out like a David Lynch prom song, turning seeming non-sequiturs into emotional punches, she lands more than she misses, and closes with the perfect rope-a-dope. The third LP 1:2 comes out 10/1 on Mt. St. Mtn. and Tough Love Records.

Led by Karina Gill, the self-titled, self-produced, self-released 2018 debut is stark and simple, but packed with a dark wit and observational tenor that only becomes more refined on subsequent releases, best exemplified here by “Love Triangle” and “Brighton Beach”.

Last year’s Free Advice was where it all came together. Starting life as a cassette release on Paisley Shirt Records, it is music of the shadows and buzzing neon, wandering off from a Galaxie 500/third Velvet Underground template. Led off by “Discount Lawyer”, the line “so find the place and find the hour where nothing comes between the tragic and the wild” firmly marks its own territory. Culminating in the title track, the gaze, both internal and external, never wavers.

Cindy is: Karina GillJesse JacksonSimon Phillips, and Aaron Diko, and their upcoming Bay Area shows include: 8/7 at the Rickshaw Stop, SF with Torrey and Marika Stuurman, plus 10/23 at the Golden Bull, Oakland with Seablite and Dummy.

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