Gold-Bears

In 2009 Jeremy Underwood, previously of Plastic Mastery, launched the Atlanta, Georgia “twee-punk” band Gold-Bears—its name taken from the cherished Gummi candy—together with Erich Leudtke, Dave Fortner, and Santiago Archila. The members, steeped in the Smiths, the Wedding Present, and My Bloody Valentine, bonded over dense layers of reverberation, chiming guitars, and lo-fi fuzz-pop, drawing parallels to acts ranging from the Mountain Goats and Summer Cats to Boyracer and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their debut single appeared on Magic Marker Records in 2010, and the following year Slumberland issued the first full-length, Are You Falling in Love?, in early summer.

Thereafter Underwood recruited an entirely new circle of collaborators to realize the harsher, more somber material that became the band’s second album, Dalliance. Clinton Callahan, Scotty Hoffman, Sam Jacobsen, and Sean Zearfoss performed the tracks, while Emma Cooper and Black Tambourine vocalist Pam Berry contributed guest appearances. Slumberland released Dalliance once more in early summer 2014.