Ghostt Blonde//Pilgrims "split" 7" (Negative Fun)

The Pilgrims were concocted in 2010, grown in the dirty kitchen of a reconditioned office-space apartment. To counter their days spent making minimum wage, they spent their nights burning tubes and building calluses. At a practice space in an alleyway across from the train tracks, their fuzzed-out, raw sound took shape. Fueled by cheap pints at the local pub, they spit tunes without apology, kiss-offs to the struggles of young, rural life, odes to the dreams they once held, and the ambitions they still do. Like a sonic avalanche gaining ground, the Pilgrims churned out two full-lengths (It’s Not Pretty & Bu$$) and two EPs (Nobility & Natalie Goes to College) in three years, forcing the New England Music Awards to take note. This is ramshackle guitar rock in the Westerberg tradition. Need a modern touchstone? Well, The Pilgrims fall somewhere in between the power pop of Sweet Talk and seventies southern rock of The Golden Boys. The woozy tunes from Raleigh's Ghostt Bllonde evoke the same eerie sultriness their name suggests. Like lounging poolside, listening to a fading oldies station on a battered transistor radio, they provide the distant warmth of a comfortable longing, odes to love and lust lost and found. Marc Kuzio, Chris Bennett, Billy Barnes, and Ryan Phillips have been impressively prolific during Ghostt Bllonde’s year-plus of existence, cranking out a wealth of well-received singles leading up to their exuberant full-length debut, Trash Pop//Doom Wop, another aptly-titled collection of bombastic ballads of karma and VHS tapes, and tweaked-out tunes of frustration and freak-outs. Their frantic recording energy extends to their live shows, and having lit Raleigh homes and bars alike on fire with their manic energy, these fresh-faced upstarts turned back to the studio for our second “Home and Home” split 7”. They emerged with Dissonance – four minutes of fifties nostalgia, layered with contemporary fuzz and washed in nineties shoegaze.