Flowertown

I’ve been remiss in mentioning this compilation of San Francisco band Flowertown’s excellent EPs. Originally issued over the course of 2020 on cassette, the Theresa Street and eponymous EPs are bound together into a debut (also eponymous) LP from Mt. St Mtn. The band is the combined efforts of two SF greats, Karina Gill (Cindy) and Michael Ramos (Tony Jay). The duo, much like their other outfits, finds a balance between pop and a kind of xeroxed indie past. Every song included here sounds like it might have fit onto a mixtape included with a zine from ’92 that’s been dubbed and passed as a totem between siblings and friends for years. In that regard the band act as a secret handshake to lo-fi indie pop gems, wafting their gently jangled songs through a thick cotton filter of nostalgia.

Yet its just that sort of lost demo discovery that gives the songs an appeal. Likely splitting the difference between aesthetic decision and economic influence, the home recorded hum of the album wraps the album a comfort that’s only compounded by the quaintness in closeness the band achieves. The uptempo “RCP” is actually a bit of an outlier, with just a touch of hiss enveloping their Galaxie 500 fumes, but its hard to deny the immediacy of the song. They hit on the pop clarity a few times, but more often than not the open-mic meditations are fit for afternoons alone staring at the ceiling fan and tending to an internal ache that won’t subside. If you’ve missed the past couple of EPs in their first run on Paisley Shirt, or just want a copy for the turntable, then this one is a must grab.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.