Thrushes

"When looking for up-and-coming bands that interpret the early 1990s shoegaze/post punk sound, it is very important to take a few moments to get a feel for the band beyond any type of "hit song" or recommended listening from most music blogger "resources". Today's featured artists are an extremely good representation of what needed to evolve from those tumultuous (in my case homeless) times and probably sound better than plenty, if not most of the original crop... just to be honest. What starts with a delicate vocal introduction soon becomes a solid sparkling guitar delivery at around the 1:10 mark. From there it is a dreamy back and forth that highlights the original turn of events. If you are looking for music that has the past in mind while looking forward, this might be the perfect place to start. It gets high recommendations from The Milk which is beginning to mean something I think? I'm not sure what, but people are starting to talk and stuff. You can place a safe bet this will not be the last time you see this band featured here. More to come."
- Milk Milk Lemonade

"Hitting streets March 13 is Thrushes 'Sun Come Undone.' This Baltimore-based band is on a mission to make reverb a household word. Luscious and saccharine, Thrushes' sound replicates the 'wall of sound' like it's a full-time job, and on tracks like 'Into The Woods', guitarist Casey Harvey presents a case study in why Rickenbackers and reverb have more in common than simply beginning with "r". The Thrushes sound is never cloying, however; in fact, Harvey's distinctive sound plays perfectly into the simply elegant vocals of Anna Conner, a vocal minimalist who manages to thread her singing into the woven texture of each song.
Complementing the guitar/vocal combination of Conner and Harvey are Matt Davis on drums and Rachel Tracy on bass. Throughout the better part of Sun Come Undone, Davis reveals that he understands the quality that percussion has as a complement to the group's overall sound, while still managing to steal his moments without too much bombast on 'Aidan Quinn' and 'Heartbeats.' Rachel Tracy's bass is often subtly wound into the band's graceful noise pop, but leaves its indelible footprint clearly visible in the introduction to tracks like 'Roy' and 'The Hardest Part', setting the path for the band's foray into the ensuing song.
On the latter half of the album, tracks such as the patient and instrumental 'New Years Kiss' and 'Roy', build up to a sustainable crescendo while earlier tracks like 'Ghost Train' and 'Into The Woods' come on strong much faster, delivering an unforgiving shoegaze sound that can often be as much compared to Jesus & Mary Chain as it can Sonic Youth in the 'Bull in the Heather' days.
Worth more than just a listen, Thrushes could find their way into your CD player for quite some time.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
- Any Given Tuesday

"On their do-it-yourself debut Casey Harvey supplies reverberated guitar that acts as a perfect countering force to the delicate touch of Anna Conner's lead vocals, as they bridge the gap between beauty and fury. The basic structure of the music is simplistic, but as the individual elements combine and interact the songs begin to take on multiple forms. The guitars echo and rise into a wave of noise, a beautiful vocal range blends in immediately below the surface, and these are both complemented and driven by precisely tamed bass and drum. For Thrushes, the beauty is in the details."
- Covert Curiosity

"The way 'Ghost Train' builds and builds and then fades is just wonderful. Like a violent sea suddenly calmed. The wall of sound and slightly hidden vocals give the band a classic sound. With bands like Air Formation, Model Morning and Butterfly Explosion currently excelling you now have to add Thrushes. Sun Come Undone is a highly accomplished debut record which should be heard by those that have an affinity for this dreamy droney sound."
- Lost Music

"There is a record you reach for when nothing seems to be working—not relationships or plans or even drinking—or when everything is working all of a sudden, and you can barely stand it. It's not for cry-your-eyes-out catharsis or finally deciding to pull yourself together; it's for those moments in between, when you only can formulate one-word thoughts and you feel so scattered you can hardly move.

Baltimore shoegazers Thrushes wrote that record, Sun Come Undone. The quartet's dreamlike wall of sound obscures simple, repetitive lyrics, creating one beautiful mess. Chimes ring, horns drone, and drums and bass keep an almost militaristic steadiness while electric guitars reverberate over and under the sounds. The wave of noise crests and crashes throughout the record, often a few times within a single song. It is difficult to differentiate one song from the one that follows. The result is angry, haunting, determined, ecstatic, and confused—it's David Lynch on a record.

Anna Conner's vocals are plaintive without being cute; at the other end, she rages without bitterness. “You don't care,” she murmurs at the record's open, hinting at some revenge to come. Instead, the words fade into the centerpiece—that wreck of sounds. For those accustomed to narratives in their music, the result is jarring. The noise doesn't just complement the vocals, it drowns, echoes, and clashes with them. On my favorite track, “Wake Up,” the feedback slowly builds until Conner begins screaming, “Wake up...the best part is coming home.” The guitars clang, inciting a frantic battle among instruments, reverb, and vocals in one arms-open anthem. It really feels like rushing home."

Rating 7 / 10 - Beatbots

"Since it’s still officially Tuesday, allow me to heap some praise on one of the week’s most criminally overlooked new albums, Sun Come Undone by Baltimore band Thrushes. SCU is a reverb-drenched wash of classic shoegaze memories and laser-guided melodies. The boy/girl/boy/girl quartet of Casey, Rachel, Matt and Anna has produced one of the most sublime and satisfying long-players of the year, and it’s not even spring yet."
- Read Mezzanine

"Carving out a niche between gothic pop and shoegazing indie rock, Thrushes paint beautiful tapestries of post-rock anthems and severely catchy pop hooks. Thrushes are yet another reason why the Baltimore scene has pulled ahead of nearby D.C. Stirring melodic vocals are arranged neatly alongside juggled rhythms and cascading guitar fuzz."
- Smother Magazine

"Man, this record really makes me want to listen to it over and over again. And for those that need ratings, I’d give this record 8/10. A completely breathtaking first effort."
- Olympus Mons

"Blast form the past: the echo driven sounds from the Thrushes, a quartet from Baltimore. Their new album 'Sun Come Undone' is a mix of late eighties Boston alternate rock (Throwing Muses, Pixies) and Scottish drone meisters The Jesus And Mary Chain. You want in two words? Beautiful noise. Think of Sonic Youth in a rather good mood."
- Here Comes the Flood

"Baltimore psychedelic shoe-gazers Thrushes hit the stage at Trash Bar last night for a CMJ Marathon showcase around 12:30 a.m., and rocked the room into a dizzy frenzy with gorgeous, vulnerable vocals and swaying guitars. Having recently acquired a new drummer, the foursome didn’t seem to miss, er, a beat! Despite complications with the microphone involving some unfortunate mouth shocking, the band played off the problem with humor and blazed through their set playing songs from their debut album Sun Come Undone (Birdnote). Poised and humble, Thrushes plucked, banged, and flickered through an impressive set. " - CMJ, 10/17/07

http://www.cmj.com/relay/?p=3062 - CMJ