Cende
#1 Hit Single
Reviewed by: Max Miller
Nowadays, as independent rock music has increasingly reverted to its status as a niche genre, the role of indie labels as curators has once again risen to prominence. Among the most reliable modern indie labels, in a class that includes the likes of Exploding In Sound and Father/Daughter, is Double Double Whammy. The Brooklyn-based label was founded by members of LVL UP, and has gone on to release cherished records by Hovvdy and Frankie Cosmos.
Cende, whose debut full-length #1 Hit Single just dropped on the label, came together after its members all moved in to David Blaine’s The Steakhouse, the Brooklyn live music and arts space started by DDW’s founders. There, the band’s four members cobbled together the unique mix of power-pop and punk that can be found on their debut, which, in characteristically ramshackle fashion, clocks in well under 30 minutes.
Opener “Bed” explodes with a lush burst of electric and acoustic guitar arpeggios before vocalist Cameron Wisch belts the cathartic opening line, “I get into bed / I can’t get out / I’m the only one that I can let down.” The song is a whirlwind of anthemic verses and hooky “woah-oh” breaks which build to the faster, punkier “Don’t Want To,” which rides out some sunny, surf-inflected vocal harmonies and a nimble-fingered closing guitar solo.
The album’s centerpiece, “What I Want,” features some of Wisch’s best melodies as he duels with Frankie Cosmos’s own Greta Kline. Harmonized guitar lines and a string section also join the fray as the song unwinds into a psychedelic noise-rock breakdown before the triumphant chorus emerges again out of nowhere.
Cende rarely pull together quite as inspired a vision as they do on “What I Want,” instead straying between their noisier impulses and poppier inclinations rather than merging the two. In the former corner stand the rapid-paced instrumental “Good Crime” and the punchy “Erase the Line.” In the latter, the almost Weezer-like “Moment Too Late” and the twangy closer “While I’m Alive.”
Cende are riding a slight wave of hype at the moment, and their placement as an opener for indie favorites (Sandy) Alex G and Japanese Breakfast practically guarantees their continued ascendancy. #1 Hit Single, while a strong showing, still feels like it only hints at the band’s full potential. Its short run-time makes it feel more like another EP than a proper full-length. But if the peaks reached on “Bed” and “What I Want” are any indication, and if we continue to put our faith in Double Double Whammy’s knack for grooming artists, I do not doubt that Cende will continue to turn heads among indie devotees.
Rating: Bad-Ass
