Some time ago, I interviewed the Brisbane, Australia-born and now Houston, TX area-based guitarist and vocalist Andrew Bower of the intercontinental collaboration the Valery Trails which features Bower’s Brisane-based brother and bassist, Sean and drummer Dan McNaulty. The band’s sophomore effort Buffalo Speedway is slated for an April 29th release was mastered and remixed in Brooklyn by Bryce Goggin, who has worked with Pavement, Sebadoh, and Spagehog, and Joe Lambert, who has worked with Deerhunter, Animal Collective and others, respectively. 

From the album’s first single, “Starsong,” it’s pretty obvious that the new album will be a bit of a change of sonic direction for the band. The track opens with a chord progression that bears a resemblance to the Psychedelic Furs’ “Pretty in Pink” and their Talk Talk Talk album before resembling the college rock sound of a band like R.E.M. Although lyrically, the song reminds me quite a bit of Starfish-era the Church. In some way, the song sounds as though it could have easily been released in 1985 or so – or even the other day.