No Pain In Pop

Corner Boys

Photography by Stephane Guisard

In 1980, 2,200 people lived in the town of Murrieta, California. By 1991 it was a city that held 24,000 bodies and last year’s estimates put the population at approximately 100,173. While fresh faces swell all about them, “dreamy pop punx” trio Rapid Youth seem happier to play amongst themselves; Tyler Haran attracting ears as Twin Lion, Brent Mitzner as Trudgers and Travis von Sydow with his Ancient Crux. All three solo projects wound up with Family Time Records, all three are awesome and all three will be featured here at some point this week.

von Sydow leads the boomtown charge, ‘Teen Dreams’ sauntering along trapped in one of those moments that are so acutely alive with possibility and resonance they get beneath the thick skin of cliches about eyes being oceans and seeing girls in your sleep, doo-wop swallowing this bitter punk whole before spitting him at the moon. ‘Coupling’ is more downbeaten, matter-of-fact vocals following synths that blur von Sydow’s lo-fi junket like continual streetlights peered at from behind crudely de-misted windows.

Both these tracks feature on the exquisitely named Interracial Coupling, recorded by Haran in his bedroom and available through Family Time now.



MP3: Ancient Crux - In Teen Dreams



MP3: Ancient Crux - Coupling

Tags: ancient crux, family time records, rapid youth, travis von sydow, trudgers, twin lion