Smokescreens

Smokescreens, the Los Angeles indie pop outfit, draw primary inspiration from the ringing guitar textures of early Flying Nun releases and the brisk clamor associated with C-86 indie pop, while their first recordings also injected a measure of punk drive. Their 2020 release A Strange Dream introduced a calmer, more reflective dimension and enlisted the Clean’s David Kilgour as producer.

Corey Cunningham and Chris Rosi first crossed paths in 2011 while Cunningham’s band Terry Malts and Rosi’s Plateaus shared a tour. By 2015 both musicians had relocated to Los Angeles and chose to form a group, Cunningham on bass and Rosi on guitar and vocals. After initial live dates they recruited ex-Plateaus drummer Jon Greene, whose prior engineering work included the Soft Pack and Crocodiles, to solidify the lineup and aid recording.

An abandoned dairy factory hosted sessions for their self-titled debut, issued on Cunningham’s Parked in Hell label in 2017. Greene’s death followed soon after. Cunningham and Rosi persisted by adding Brice Bradley on drums and Jenny Moffett on bass while Cunningham switched to guitar. The four-piece tracked their next album at Hollywood’s Primitive Ears Studio before handing the mixes to Kyle Mullarky, whose credits include the Allah-Las. Slumberland Records released the resulting ten-song Used to Yesterday in mid-2018. Extensive touring ensued, during which the group won the approval of David Kilgour, the Clean member who also maintains a solo career. When the trio—now Rosi, Bradley, and Jake Sprecher of Beehive—entered the studio for their third album, Kilgour took the producer’s chair and Mullarky handled engineering. Issued in 2020, A Strange Dream adopted a more contemplative and politically charged stance while pairing acoustic and electric guitars in classic Flying Nun style.