Here at Stereogum we like to believe Gum Country is wherever great music is loved and championed — or maybe the phrase refers to, like, Kacey Musgraves and Sturgill Simpson? However, as of today we must concede Gum Country is not a place, a genre, or even a state of mind. It’s a “harsh twee” band out of Los Angeles featuring Courtney Garvin of the Courtneys plus multi-instrumentalist Connor Mayer.
Gum Country’s debut album Somewhere is coming this summer, and its title track is a phenomenal slice of totally ’90s droning guitar-pop bliss. Here’s what Garvin has to say about it:
I wrote “Somewhere” a couple years after moving to LA. It’s about leaving a place that you are comfortable in and landing in a strange new one, and discovering what parts of your identity remain and which were left behind. The first line I wrote was “haven’t felt this way in a while, I can’t think straight can’t hide my smile, I guess this is gonna be my life for a while,” and then it was just a process of unravelling that thought. I think the song could be about the range of emotions that come with any big change, and ultimately settling on a mellow excitement for vulnerability.
Watch the video below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Somewhere”
02 “The Queen Rules”
03 “Tennis (I Feel Ok)”
04 “There’s A Crumb”
05 “I Don’t Stay Up”
06 “Pills”
07 “Brain Song”
08 “It Lives It Breeds It Feeds”
09 “Whoa Oh”
10 “Talking To My Plants”
11 “Jungle Boy”
12 “Waterfall”
Somewhere is out 6/19 on Burger Records in the US and Kingfisher Bluez in Canada. Pre-order it here.
