Music Review: Them Are Us Too, Remain

By Less Lee Moore

In the press release for Remain, the debut album from southern California duo Them Are Us Too, the band is compared to both Cocteau Twins and The Sundays. It’s a description that is not an exaggeration.

Singer Kennedy Ashlyn Wenning does sound eerily like both Liz Fraser and Harriet Wheeler. It takes a while to get over the distinctly uncanny sensation; I found myself thinking, “My god, it’s just like Cocteau Twins and The Sundays!” the first couple of times I heard the album. Once the shock wears off, however, Remain offers its own kind of pleasures.

The album opens with a slow dirge of drum machines and heavy synths on “Eudaemonia.” The effect is entrancing, which befits a song whose title means “a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous.” Wenning’s voice traipses up and down the scales like a joyful bird as she harmonizes with herself. It’s a lovely thing to behold. Much like Cocteau Twins, one doesn’t even have to know the lyrics to the songs to be filled with the urge to sing along, although good luck sounding as crystalline as Wenning; her voice is a wonder.

The flaws on Remain are not egregious. Although all of the songs are solid, the album as a whole suffers slightly from too much high end and compression, both common complaints on a lot of newer recordings. The song structures also come across as a bit monotonous at times, which means that they aren’t as instantly memorable as they could be. Interestingly, the better and more idiosyncratic songs appear towards the end of Remain.

“False Moon” has spare instrumentation, which gives Wenning’s voice room to roam and the result is particularly impressive. Despite its title, “Creepy Love” is surprisingly gentle and seductive. The reverbed guitar that dominates “694 Mi.” is particularly endearing and Wenning’s vocals are even more striking. “Fall” might be the best song on the album. It includes few instruments, just manipulated guitar strings, the billowing tension of feedback, and Wenning’s echoing, piercing voice. Remain‘s lyrics deal mostly in love and loss, which seems appropriate for a band whose members are barely into their twenties, but the lyrics here are arresting.

Wenning and guitarist Cash Askew are clearly well versed in the shoegaze/goth/dreampop music of the eighties. Although it’s a language they speak fluently, there is a kind of restraint in the songs on Remain. This isn’t a dig, but rather an observation that Them Are Us Too will soon evolve beyond this template and transcend that decade’s more obvious trappings. Remain is a fine debut from a band who shows an incredible amount of promise.

Remain was released by Dais Records on April 7.