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Premiere: Gawn’s lo-fi “No Light” is the sound of summertime nostalgia

I grew up in a rural town in western New York. The closest city had maybe 3 music venues booked almost exclusively with generic post grunge, aggro nu metal, and bro-y radio rock acts that had limited appeal to my friends and I with broader musical tastes. For us, live music was a scratched CD-r mixtape played on a weathered boom box or a couple of buddies strumming acoustic guitar around a backyard bonfire. We had our own little community, far removed from the inspirational hubs of the big cities far away with hopeful eyes turned towards a bright future. “No Light” embodies that idea, that even in a small town the world is crackling with electric possibilities as long as you’re surrounded by good friends and an open mind.

Gawn’s latest single is a warm, lo-fi manifestation of inclusive summertime camaraderie that feels especially remote in the era of social distancing. Born from a rotating cast of players that eventually coalesced into a band, Gawn’s carefree collaborative structure feels welcomingly gregarious and immediately approachable, like a spontaneous meet-up with an old friend that happens to be in town for the weekend. A snapshot of togetherness and hopeful anticipation standing on the precipice of adventure, restless with the urge to shake off the dust of automatic routine.

Musically, Gawn taps into a long tradition of alternative music cues that combine acoustic strings with shuffling percussion under a thick blanket of fuzz and dust. A stylistic line can be drawn from Beck’s One Foot In The Gave and the best work of Violent Femmes, all the way through early Wavves and King Tuff, with hints of Cage The Elephant’s Matt Schultz’s dry, staccato vocal delivery. “No Light” is perfect background music, carefully constructed to blend and harmonize with the pleasant buzz of affable late night conversation and casual revelry that dovetails perfectly into the soundtrack to a solo walk home awash in the first golden tones of a July sunrise. The end result is comfortable and familiar, sticking to well-worn paths that can be walked with earbuds in and eyes half closed, leaving the mind free to wander beyond the bushes and hedges that line the roadside. A vintage corduroy jacket in two minutes and eleven seconds, soft and warm and faintly smelling of woodsmoke and wet grass.

Gawn is set to appropriately release their debut LP, Thee Essence Ov Everything, later this summer. Follow the band on Instagram.



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