Big Troubles

The indie pop outfit Big Troubles launched their partnership in 2009, yet their recordings reveal a strong pull toward the sonic textures of the 1980s and 1990s, from shoegaze groups and jangle pop to the C-86 scene, lo-fi pop, and the earliest hints of grunge. Alex Craig and Ian Drennan, high-school friends from Ridgewood, New Jersey, formed the group after bonding over shared tastes in Teenage Fanclub, My Bloody Valentine, Sugar, the Cleaners from Venus, and Let's Active. When Craig enrolled at New York University and Drennan entered Tufts University in Massachusetts, the pair kept corresponding and started composing material together. From 2009 onward they tracked songs as Big Troubles, sometimes convening in person for writing and recording and at other times mailing tapes between locations. Their debut LP, 2010's Worry, took shape entirely at home on a four-track cassette machine, with a rudimentary drum machine supplying beats while Craig and Drennan piled on distorted electric guitars and vintage analog synthesizers to evoke a full band. Olde English Spelling Bee Records released the album, which drew warm notices and led the duo to recruit drummer Sam Franklin and bassist Luka Usmiani for touring duties. The same lineup also operates as the live version of Franklin's own lo-fi project Fluffy Lumbers. For the follow-up, 2011's Romantic Comedy, Big Troubles moved away from their earlier lo-fi approach and concentrated on pop songcraft; the four-piece band cut the record with producer and jangle pop veteran Mitch Easter, while Chris Stamey of the dB's added further contributions to the sessions.