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| Photo by Angel Ceballos |
A lot of pretty adjectives come to mind while listening to Cock and Swan’s criminally unnoticed 2012 release, Stash. The first words I thought of were “earthy” and “haunting,” but “melancholic,” “wispy” and “goddamn those drums are amazing” weren’t far behind.
The Bothell, WA duo of Johnny Goss and Ola Hungerford has been making ambient folktronica in the vein of Boards of Canada and Múm since 2003. However, Stash marks a significant departure for the band, incorporating more acoustic instrumentation and eschewing the heavy synths tones of their early work. The result is an addictive amalgam of razor-sharp drumming, ethereal vocals and prominent bass lines, which draws you in and won’t let you out again.
The first track from Stash is the stirring “Sneak Close,” which aside from being f-ing beautiful, is free to download via Soundcloud.
Do yourself a favor and just download the whole album, though. You can thank me later.