Lemuria
Pebble (Bridge Nine)
Gay Meat, the musical project formed by Karl Kuehn, told us about his love for a Lemuria gem...
Gay Meat: Oh god, my favorite album? Of all time? There are so many records I LOVE, so many I would give 10s, 10s, 10s across the board to! But given the beautiful parameters of this assignment? I think, today, I’d have to pick ‘Pebble’ by Lemuria.
How do you avoid the proverbial sophomore-slump? I think the first thing Lemuria did *perfectly* was lean into a darker, more severe and stylized sound on this record. When I think about how a guitar should sound? I think about this record. Are these lead lines baked into rhythm guitar parts? Who knows! Is it the other way around? Probably yes!? Also the moments where reverb soaks the vocals? The crisp sizzle of distortion that sits on top of the drums? The chunky distorted bass? What about the glockenspiel? Is that clave?
Lyrically, I love this record to death. It is truly the album I think of first when I’m considering how to say a lot by saying a little. A love song can be funny!? A confusing song about your place in the world? It can have a wordless chorus! I personally don’t think Lemuria ever missed when it came to studio albums, but I think ‘Pebble’ took people by surprise. I earnestly don’t think a salivating pop-punk leaning audience was ready for two people (arguably three? I know there was bassist limbo during this time) to make something so stark, so monolithic, so dense and impenetrable. The cover art, the font choices, it’s just… chef’s kiss! Justice for ‘Pebble’!
Gay Meat's new album Blue Water is out now.
Photo by Nick O’Reilly
