Terry Malts

In late 2009, three members of the Smiths-influenced indie pop quintet Magic Bullets formed the California-based trio Terry Malts as a side project. Guitarist/vocalist Corey Cunningham, bassist/lead vocalist Phil Benson, and drummer/vocalist Nathan Sweatt later chose to focus on Terry Malts full-time, after which Magic Bullets disbanded. Self-classified as "chainsaw pop," the group draws from classic fuzz-pop institutions such as the Ramones and Jesus and Mary Chain, alongside pop-punk roots exemplified by the Descendents and Hüsker Dü, as well as the reverb-coated roster of late-2000s Slumberland Records bedroom pop acts. Their earliest release arrived as a six-song cassette on Loglady Records in 2010, followed the next year by two 7" singles on Slumberland. Over the ensuing period the band performed occasional shows in the Bay Area and undertook multiple beer-soaked tours along the West Coast. Killing Time, their debut full-length album, appeared in 2012. The cheekily titled sophomore effort, Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere, followed in 2013. In 2014 they issued the Insides EP, a four-song 7" that clocked in at just over eight minutes. After devoting a year to writing material for the subsequent album, the trio entered Monte Vallier's San Francisco studio for the first time to capture the sessions. The resulting polished production suited the songs, prompting the musicians to lower the guitars, refine the arrangements with greater attention, and take cues from '70s power pop artists including the Records and Dwight Twilley. Slumberland released their third album, Lost at the Party, in October 2016.