Eternal Summers - Gold and Stone (2015)

“I’ve never thought too hard about what our albums should sound like before they are written. I just trust instinct to lead the way.” That is the philosophy of Nicole Yun of Roanoke, Virginia based noise pop, power rock trio Eternal Summers. And if you haven’t heard of Eternal Summers, you’ll have a lot of catching up to do. On June 2, 2015, they will release their fourth full-length album “Gold and Stone” due out on their longtime label, Brooklyn based indie, Kanine Records. Having formed in 2009, Eternal Summers has now been operating as the trio of Nicole Yun, Daniel Cundiff and Jonathan Woods longer then they did as a duo without Jonathan. Gone are the days of the Roanoke based collective known as the Magic Twig Community that saw the handful of like-minded indie artists working together; but what has grown in its place is a band that stands firmly on its own. In the words of All Music, “The kind that other bands will look to for inspiration 20 years later.” With several previous releases, there has already been a lot said about Eternal Summers music. From the crafty minimalism on their debut Silver, to the dream punk sheen on 2012’s breakout Correct Behavior, to the guitar driven power on The Drop Beneath, the evolution of Eternal Summers marks a band that embraces both anthemic rock and bittersweet ballads- a band that is grounded in jangle pop but with an added depth that rewards on repeated listens. Last year’s The Drop Beneath marked Eternal Summers first full length created entirely outside Virginia and as Pitchfork noted: “The Drop Beneath is the most pristine sounding thing that Eternal Summers have ever recorded” and “indulges their more anthemic side, and the results are solid.” According to Paste Magazine, “Their brand of loose-hanging, guitar driven, hook-filled pop has tightened into a fist.” For Gold and Stone, Eternal Summers returned to the site of last year’s well-received The Drop Beneath, Resonate Studio in Austin, TX and back into the very adept hands of engineer and mixer Louie Lino to create an album that ventures beyond the pop immediacy of their previous albums. Nicole says, “On this self-produced album, we wanted to target more lush and radiant textures, some classic rock riffs, some jazzier elements and some full-on punk snarl.” Nicole isn’t exactly sure how influence happens, “Whether it creeps in or just bashes you on the head, I think we made it a point to be as open as possible. We love to listen to bands and think about how their albums came together. We were listening to a lot of Blur, early Radiohead, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Echo and the Bunnymen, Ryan Adams, Lush, Dinosaur Jr., Cleaners from Venus and Stereolab in the van on tour before writing Gold and Stone.” You’ll have to give Gold and Stone a spin to see whether you can pick out those influences or even find traces of the early Eternal Summers “dream punk,” but regardless, it’s evident Eternal Summers shall not fade.