Around 2009 there was a sudden flurry of interest in ambitious, slightly esoteric guitar music. It was basically impossible to walk round a record shop without knocking over an end-of-aisle Bitte Orca display.
The excitement about bookish, university town deconstructed rock music might have abated slightly, but Portland’s AU are still exploring the perimeters of the guitar band form. ‘Solid Gold’ starts out sounding like a long-forgotten Welsh ecclesiastical song, before the band gradually erect different calypso-tinged structures, lilting harmonies, and samba drum patterns. Excellent fun.
‘Solid Gold’ is out 9 January on Leaf.
Latest
- Billy Nomates shares new single, "Plans"
- Folk Bitch Trio signs to Jagjaguwar and shares new single, "The Actor"
- Adrianne Lenker details debut live album, Live at Revolution Hall'
- Joy Guidry details forthcoming album, Five Prayers
- Asher White signs to Joyful Noise and shares new single, "Kratom Headache Girls Night"
- M(h)aol share new single, "I Miss My Dog"
- BICEP unveil new DOVE single “CHROMA 009 KR36”
Get the Best Fit take on the week in music direct to your inbox every Friday
Read next
Listen
AtticOmatic weaves a rich tapestry of sound in the tender post-rock “Two Alarms”
For Nina balances between tension and release in driving alt-rock single “Hounds”
Experimental soul artist McCabe gets vulnerable in his bittersweet summer single “Vicious”
Tapeworms explore the ups and downs of following your dreams in the atmospheric “Safe And Sound”
Rob de Boer celebrates tenderness in his soulful blues-fusion track “Man to You”
Linfa Kear frees herself from the snares of regret in the whimsical “Venn Diagram”
Reviews

Bon Iver
SABLE, fABLE
10 Apr 2025

Mamalarky
Hex Key
09 Apr 2025

Florist
Jellywish
07 Apr 2025

Dirty Projectors
Song of the Earth
04 Apr 2025