Fuzzy, buzzy, dancey, dark: Minneapolis' Partial Traces merge noise and melody with intricate guitars and tidal feedback. Departing from the more aggressive sound of previous projects, former members of Banner Pilot, Dear Landlord & The Soviettes evoke The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins and The Wedding Present in understated songs celebrating distorted synth and tempered vocals. 2017"s Glass Beach finds Nate Gangelhoff's gossamer guitar weaving through resonating lyrics of science and loss in Maren Macosko's lower register, supported by driving drums and gnarled bass from Brad Lokkesmoe and Mike Rose. In 2019, guitarist Annie Sparrows added both her back up vocals and deliberate leads to their 2nd release, Low Definition. Throughout 2019 and 2020, the band released a series of EPs primarily consisting of home recordings: Can't Come Down, Only Wanted U and Ghosts of the Sounds, the latter of which also saw a physical release as a limited lathe cut 7". During this time (guitarist) Nate Gangelhoff, (vocalist/keyboardist/lyricist) Maren Macosko and (drummer/lyricist) Brad Lokkesmoe worked long distance between New York and Minneapolis, amassing a new batch of demos until something cohesive began to take shape, inspiring them to return to The Terrarium Recording Studio that summer to once again work with engineer Jacques Wait. The resulting album, Wild Surf/Quiet Blues contains the bands most ambitious work to date, a heavy hitting collection of songs that explore the unwieldy chaos of love and life in the modern world and finds the band embracing a darker, more synth based direction sonically, while Macosko and Sparrows' haunting voices float over the arrangements. Wild Surf/Quiet Blues was released on Salinas Records in July of 2021.
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