Tag: Animal Scream Heartbroke Motel

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Animal Scream Shares Broodingly Eerie “I’m A Spirit”

2023’s Heartbroke Motel saw the Pittsburgh-based duo Animal Scream —  Chad Monticue and Josh Sickels — pushing their noir-ish, cinematic sound in new directions while drawing from eclectic influences like  David Lynch, MF DOOM and 60s reggae.

The duo’s latest single “I Am A Spirit” is a brooding and eerie tune, anchored around Voodoo-like percussion, bursts of twinkling keys and atmospheric textures. While being perfect for spooky season, “I Am A Spirit” may arguably be the most cinematic song the Pittsburgh-based duo has written or released to date.

“‘I’m A Spirit’ is about a confused entity suddenly realizing it doesn’t belong in this world and attempts its escape to another place, but fears it may be trapped in between if it doesn’t make it in time,” the band’s Chad Monticue says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Animal Scream Teams Up with Ames Harding & The Mirage on a Breezy and Hook-Driven Bop

Pittsburgh-based duo Animal Scream — Chad Monticue and Josh Sickels — specialize in combining psych pop with a sound design-driven aesthetic that manages to be dark and cinematic, a noir-tinted sound in thrall to the eternal groove.

The duo’s second album, last year’s Heartbroke Motel saw the duo building upon the shimmering noir-ish textures of their debut, 2020’s Nightwalk but while pushing the band’s sound into new directions with the material drawing from some eclectic influences like David Lynch, MF DOOM and 60s reggae. The result is an album that saw the Pittsburgh-based duo carving out nocturnal soundscapes for the alienated and broken-hearted.

The duo’s latest single “Sandinista Smile” is a collaboration with Ames Harding & The Mirage. Anchored around a trippy and infectious Tame Impala-like groove, incredibly catchy hooks, swelling strings, glistening synths and skittering beats, the hypnotic production serves as a lush and dreamy bed for Ames Harding’s yearning falsetto. And while being a breezy and summery bop, “Sandinista Smile” as the duo explain is “about letting go, if only for a moment to celebrate the beautiful times with the special ones you love. During these messed up times, that seems more important than ever.”