Tag: Sego Townland

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site for some time, you may be familiar with the Los Angeles, CA-based JOVM mainstays Sego. And as you may recall, the indie act, comprised of the Mapleton, UT-born duo Spencer Peterson and Thomas Carroll, eventually relocated to Los Angeles to seriously purse careers in music — and as soon as the duo landed in Los Angeles, Peterson and Carroll quickly developed a reputation for employing contemporary production techniques while maintaining an eccentric and human touch that drew upon several disparate sources. “Townland,” the first single I wrote about reminded me of Talking Heads and Superhuman Happiness, while  “Obscene Dream” off their full-length debut, Once Was Lost Now Just Hanging Out was reminiscent of Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundystem.

Last December, the duo closed out 2017 with “Sucker/Saint,” which found the duo  adopting a jangling, hook-driven, 90s grunge rock-inspired sound, reminiscent of Pixies, The Posies and others while revealing some rather ambitious songwriting, as the duo nodded at psych rock, krautrock and guitar pop. “Cigarette Kids,” the Los Angeles-based duo’s first single of 2018 continues in a somewhat similar vein as its immediate predecessor as it features a jangling and shuffling hook; however, there this particular song seems to have more of a dreamy, almost krautrock vibe thanks to atmospheric synths and a motorik-like groove. And yet, underlying the dreamy vibes of the entire thing, the song reportedly dives further into Spencer Petersen’s relationship with his adopted hometown and its day-to-day culture — and in some way, it’s a bemused view an outsider, who can’t figure out why the people he’s around say the things they say or do the things they do.

The JOVM mainstays will be touring throughout March and it’ll include some SXSW sets, as well as a hometown show in Provo, UT. Check out tour dates below.

TOUR DATES
3/10: Tucson, AZ @ Flycatcher+
3/14: Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/15: Dallas, TX @ Not So Fun Wknd
3/16: Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/17: Norman, OK @ Opolis^
3/19: Taos, NM @ Taos Mesa Brewing
3/20: Fort Collins, CO @ Surfside 7#
3/22: Provo, UT @ Velour
3/26: Seattle, WA @ Vera Project*
3/27: Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar*
3/29: San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill*
4/8: Las Vegas, CA @ Emerge Impact + Music
+ with Fenster
^ with Dick Stusso
# with Pujol
* with Dante Elephante

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Sego Returns with an Ambitious and Anthemic, Guitar Pop Single Paired with Slick and Mischievous Visuals

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of years of its almost eight year history, you’ve likely come across a couple of posts featuring the Mapleton, UT-born, Los Angeles, CA-based duo Sego.  And as you may recall the duo, which is comprised of Spencer Peterson and Thomas Carroll, relocated to Los Angeles to seriously pursue careers in music, where they quickly developed a reputation for a sound that at the time, employed contemporary production techniques while maintaining an eccentric and human touch; in fact, a single like “Townland,” found the duo adopting a sound that was reminiscent of  Talking Heads and Superhuman Happiness, while it’s follow up, “Obscene Dream” off their full-length debut, Once Was Lost Now Just Hanging Out was reminiscent of Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundystem. 

Now, it’s been some time since I’ve personally written about them but interestingly enough, the duo’s latest single “Sucker/Saint” finds the duo adopting a jangling, hook-driven, 90s grunge rock-inspired sound, reminiscent of Pixies, The Posies and others — and much like the sources that they song seems to draw from, Sego’s latest manages to balance an easy going, garage rock jam feel with some of ambitious songwriting that finds the duo nodding at psych rock, krautrock and guitar pop. 

Directed by Jared Clark Gay, the slick accompanying video for “Sucker/Saint” finds the duo in a   studio with their backing band, performing the song but it employs the use of multi-split screens, in which at points you’ll see the song’s lyrics, while quickly switching back and forth between color, black and white and wild psychedelia within a turn of a phrase. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site over its nearly six year history, you’d likely know that I often go through a number of potential singles while multitasking. Usually, I’ll be listening to things while watching sports or some true crime story on Investigation Discovery (I’ve lately been obsessed with Homicide Hunter, Lt. Joe Kenda and Killer Instinct with Chris Hansen) and I get so caught up in everything that I’m doing that I’ll wind up listening to an entire Soundcloud related artist playlist. As a music blogger, it’s a pretty good way of discovering new artists out of my normal means of PR firm, label, band manager or artist finding me and contacting me; in fact, that’s exactly how I stumbled on to the Los Angeles, CA-based electro pop duo Sego. Comprised of the Mapleton, UT-born Spencer P. and Thomas C., the members of Sego relocated to L.A. to seriously pursue careers in music. And since relocating to the West Coast, Sego has quickly developed a reputation for a sound that employs modern and contemporary production techniques while maintaining an eccentric and human touch.

Now you may recall that I wrote about “Townland,” a Talking Heads and Superhuman Happiness channelling single that paired breathy vocals with angular guitar chords, a sinuous bass line, swirling ambient electronics and four-on-the-floor-like drumming with an infectious earnestness and honesty that belied the song’s ironic neuroticism. “Obscene Dream,” the percussive and angular first single off the duo’s hotly-anticipated full-length debut, Once Was Lost Now Just Hanging Out is reminiscent of Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundystem, as it’s a danceable track consisting of angular guitar chords, shimmering and cascading synth chords, tons of cowbell and other percussion, a shouted vocals on an anthemic hook and lyrics that often sound like ironic non-sequiturs and observations. And much like Sound of Silver, the song manages to accurately captures the feelings, hopes and thoughts of constantly connected young people.