Other Houses

Other Houses

Bad Reputation

Aagoo

***Bad Reputation is the first full-length LP from OTHER HOUSES, the solo moniker of multi-instrumentalist MORGAN ENOS, known otherwise as the vocalist for doom/shoegaze band HOLLOW SUNSHINE (Robotic Empire/Iron Pier). From its first moments, Bad Reputation is a noticeably different entity than Enos’ work with Hollow Sunshine and displays a remarkable departure from even preceding Other Houses EPs No Splendor (2015) and Way Out West (2015). Bad Reputation is winsome, homespun, and crackling with pop energy. While the song cycle is deeply personal, the record simultaneously fixes its eye heavenward into an intergalactic realm, where mysterious forces found in Eastern texts collide and intermingle with interstellar bodies. It’s here that Enos’ creative impulses are presented in all honesty—simple and strong arrangements, lovingly rooted in power pop and psychedelia, weaving their threads through a set of diverse songs to create an incisive, yet fully livable universe of its own. The songs, indebted to Enos’ power-pop heroes Big Star, The Byrds and Guided by Voices, keep a sense of heart, concision and personality. Yet, the most magical part of Bad Reputation’s unkempt pop mosaic is that it presents Enos (who plays every instrument featured) as a full-fledged artist, painting the night sky with strange, dazzling melodies, emboldened and willing to try anything.