***CRUEL SUMMER's sound evokes the dazed, fuzzed-out, swirling noise of the late 1980s UK sound while still sticking to their pop roots—they’ve aptly been crowned San Francisco’s “jangle darlings.” Following their 2013 self-titled EP (Mt. St. Mtn.,) they released the sold-out lathe-cut 7” for “Leeches,” accompanied by a video. In 2016 Cruel Summer released “Around You, Around Me,” recorded for L.A.’s Part Time Punks, the 7” B-side features a moody cover of Pylon’s “Crazy.” Mastered by Kramer (Galaxie 500 and Low). Ivy is the long-awaited, first full-length album from this quartet, who have become a mainstay in the San Francisco and Oakland club scene. Recorded at Santo Studio in Oakland, California by JASON KICK (Sonny & the Sunsets, Once and Future Band, Mild High Club, Maus Haus), the record is a love poem to San Francisco, with all its changes and disappointments. Cruel Summer recently completed a California tour with the UK’s Primitives, and in early August they will be accompanying the '90s noise pop demons Swirlies on a full West Coast tour.
LP $17.75
06/30/2017
***This is the debut of San Francisco's jangle darlings CRUEL SUMMER. Reminiscent of the mid to late ‘80s C86 and Sarah sound with a dash of 4AD's hazy early ‘90s catalogue, Cruel Summer offer up six tracks on the black wax. Two-color offset printed outer jacket with a die-cut, four-color printed inner sleeve. Artwork by JAY HOWELL, design by MARK KAISER. "Best band of the 90’s that actually exists right now. San Francisco is full of jangly guitars, but only Cruel Summer combines it with shoe gaze to sound like your favorite band when you were fifteen."—Unpiano
12" $17.50
07/09/2013