Milk

Mattress Ranch // Independent

The wonderfully titled Mattress Ranch, is a debut album that takes dream-pop songwriting conventions and filters them through baroque psychedelia, noise rock, and a great sense of humour to become something more than just another bedroom rock album. There are inspired instrumental choices throughout the album, with guitar work that ranges from the slightly underwater and tasteful playing on the title track, to the noisey, Nels Cline inspired dissonance on album highlight “Melty”. Another standout track titled “Fugue”, starts with an electric harpsichord and piano duo that gives way to lush vocal harmonies and strings, taking it somewhere that’s just a bit more earnest than the rest of the songs. The somewhat jokey lyrical sensibilities help to give the sense that the band isn’t taking things too seriously, which helps to make songs like “Fugue” much more impactful. Ultimately, Mattress Ranch sounds just like a debut album should; it’s a band having a lot of fun exploring any sounds that command their attention making for an exciting and engaging listen.

- Sean Newton