Mystery at the Lighthouse is an indie-rock project formed by four friends in Denver. As is evident on several tracks throughout their impressive new release Tunnels, the group shares an admiration for lo-fi indie-rock staples like Built to Spill and Pavement. Those groups are a nice starting reference point, though that mutual admiration fortunately doesn’t obstruct their originality. On track “Echo Decrypter”, they project a jagged and spacey sort of round, the spaciness generated largely by the squiggly bursts of backing guitar distortion and sporadic touchings of bell-like keys. The vocals are crisp-clear, emitting nonchalance during the verse and allowing the angular guitars to flow spontaneously throughout the first chorus, before the second adds a vocal melody to the mix — which is particularly reminiscent of Stephen Malkmus. Although much of Mystery at the Lighthouse’s sound recalls the lo-fi indie-rock of groups like Pavement, there’s also a dark nocturnal edge to their guitar sound, similar to the infectious edges delivered throughout Suede’s drugged-out classic Dog Man Star. With groups like Pavement, Built to Spill, and Suede serving as relevant comparisons, Mystery at the Lighthouse are certainly on the right path to success.
Stream the rest of Tunnels below:
