Alycia Kravitz
Doubting Thomas Cruise Control Share New Single “Lillehammer” via Stereogum
Sophomore album “Remember Me John Lydon Forever” set for August 14th release on Fleeting Youth Records
Doubting Thomas Cruise Control are excited to announce their sophomore full length album,
Remember Me John Lydon Forever, due out August 14th via
Fleeting Youth Records (Mumblr, Loose Tooth, ScotDrakula) and the band’s own
Duckbill Records. The Brooklyn based quartet, comprised of Bobby Cardos (guitar/vocals), Chris Sprindis (bass), Sean Kelly (guitar), and Joe McCarthy (drums/keys) have debuted the album’s first single, “Lillehammer” via
Stereogum, an inescapably catchy indie rock burner with a twisted melodic charm driven by the circular vocal pattern and knotted guitar harmonies. The song unfolds with a monstrous guitar solo that would make the likes of Malkmus and Martsch proud before jerking right back into the earworm hook. “Lillehammer” is only the first taste of the band’s new record, but the tone for the diverse album is immediately set.
Remember Me John Lydon Forever is quirky yet heartfelt, snarling yet sincere, it’s an introspective album that carries themes of age and life expectations, the thoughts of an artist watching those around them enter “adulthood” and as Cardos puts it, the persuit to “evolve from being defined by what you’re not and what you don’t ascribe to, and using that to figure out what you do ascribe to.”
Sharing the premiere of “Lillehammer,” Stereogum explored the song’s lyrics and the story behind the Olympic scandal the song is named from, noting the track is “presented as a story of good versus evil that grows more and more complicated with further investigation”. Speaking about the song’s subject matter, Cardos offered:”I watch a lot of random documentaries, and this song is kind of an interpretation of the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan scandal around the 1994 Winter Olympics as told through one of the Sports Center 30 For 30 films. I really liked the sense of defiance Harding had as a young skater who was much poorer than figure skaters tend to be, and how she would get derided by judges for wearing homemade costumes that weren’t “fashionable” or whatever… which I imagine must sound ridiculous when you’re barely eating enough because you can’t afford to, since you participate in a fucking expensive sport — and are still somehow one of the best in the world at it. Obviously her (probable) involvement re: Nancy’s injury is unacceptable, but I still respect those other parts of her character. And I think the crapshoot nature of athletic competition translates to other pursuits as well. Something as stupid as a busted skate two minutes before you’re supposed to compete can ruin you. Or, like Nancy, you can make a miraculous recovery from your injury and give one of the best programs of your career, and still lose because some judge decides that the scandal that wasn’t your fault has too much baggage to give you a medal.”
Having released a slew of EPs over the past few years and their full length debut back in 2012, this is DTCC at their absolute finest, a record packed with carefully constructed indie pop brilliance, clever songwriting and glorious barn-burning guitar solos too. Doubting Thomas Cruise Control have expanded on the slacker pop tag they’ve become known for,Remember Me… finds the band diving headfirst into heavier riffs, catchier hooks, and more dynamics from slow burning songs (“Laszlo’s, 3 AM”) to gentle indie pop (“Soft Focus”) and epic yet soul crushing ballads (“Lenny Bruce”). Remember Me John Lydon Forever is the sound of a band coming brilliantly into their own, flipping the script on everything you thought you knew while sounding warm and familiar in the process. It’s a breakout album from a hardworking band that never asked for anything more than to make music together.
Bobby Cardos’ songwriting throughtout the album is spectacular, a rare display of nimble vocal delivery with undeniable melodic clarity and a supreme catchiness at its core. DTCC’s sprawling indie rock calls to mind many of college rock’s finest: Pavement, Built to Spill, Silkworm, Harvey Danger, and Elliott Smith, but its the DIY scene around them that fuels their influences, peers like Fins, Washer, and Ovlov that keep the motivation alive.
Recorded and mixed by 1989 Recordings’ Dara Hirsch and Kegan Zema at Gravesend Studios in Silent Barn and mastered by Alex Saltz (APS Mastering), Remember Me John Lydon Forever is DTCC’s first album produced and mixed outside themselves, offering the band the opportunity to focus on their music without worrying about engineering the record .
Doubting Thomas Cruise Control met in the Bronx at Fordham University through working at the school’s alternative publication, The Paper, photoshopping 40’s into various Google image search results. They began playing together in late 2010 and moved to Brooklyn after graduating. Their name could have been Ed Norton Anthology, but it isn’t. Their diets are primarily grain and dairy based.
Remember Me John Lydon Forever tracklist:
[
pre-order]
1. Chain Supply
2. Nice Guy
3. Lillehammer [stream/embed]
4. Shed
5. Laszlo’s, 3:AM
6. Soft Focus
7. Lenny Bruce
8. Ghosting
9. Texas T
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