Cousins Nate and Mike Kinsella have a long, long history in underground music, both together and apart. Mike, along with his brother Tim, was part of Cap’n Jazz, the pioneering emo band that started in Chicago in 1989. After Cap’n Jazz broke up, Mike went on to form American Football, a band Nate joined years later when they reunited. The Kinsellas also played together in Joan Of Arc, and Nate played in Joan Of Arc offshoot Make Believe, while Mike has been making solo music for years under the name Owen, which Nate has helped ou with at times. Today, Nate and Mike announced a new band that they’ve started, a duo called LIES.
Today, LIES have announced their existence by releasing their first two songs, “Blemishes” and “Echoes.” If you’re familiar with the Kinsellas’ past work, then their experimental, genre-agnostic approach shouldn’t be a surprise. “Blemishes” is a synthy, percussive pop song with soft, yearning vocals and bright, busy strings. Lyrically, it flips a familiar hook from the Cure: “I’ve been looking so long at these pixels of you.” “Echoes” has a similar combination of sprightliness and reflectiveness, but it’s more expansive, stretching out to six minutes. It’s also got a lot of saxophone.
There’s definitely a bit of American Football in these two LIES songs, but the Kinsellas aren’t the sorts of musicians who like to repeat themselves. These first two LIES tracks are catchy, pretty, and weird in roughly equal measures. Below, listen to “Blemishes” and “Echoes” and check out their new direction.
“Blemishes” b/w “Echoes” is out now on Polyvinyl.
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