Growing up isn’t easy. If you’re old enough to be reading these words, this won’t be particularly groundbreaking news to you. Many bands have taken this simple fact as inspiration for their music, but few (if any) have added this much pure sunshine to their despondency.
“When I was a kid I imagined I’d have this settled,” sings Telethon vocalist and guitarist Kevin Tully on ‘Analysis’. “On the surface I’m a lucky guy,” he adds before “yet there’s still a couple hours out of every 24 I feel like…”, the final word lingering in the song’s ether.
The rest of the record follows suit. “This record is almost entirely about anxieties — sometimes significant, often not — that come along with full-blown adulthood,” the band explain. “There’s a constant conversation between the person you think you are and the person you’re actually out being in the world, and we tried our best to document it. Other people drop in and out of the narrative, but it’s primarily a non-stop, insular consciousness stream.”
Based on these words alone, ‘Citrosis’ could be one hell of a downer, but instead Tully and company put an upbeat, sun-soaked spin on their thoughts. Their most recent single and midpoint of the record, ‘A Funny Thing Happened To Me Today’, is a pop infused, surf-rock banger. It’s also not alone; the whole album is filled with a musical optimism. ‘Citrosis’ is almost the antithesis to the troubles Telethon sing about. Life might suck sometimes, but that doesn’t stop your ability to be happy.
“Musically, we took nods from everywhere without worrying too much about genre or style or expectations,” the band add. “We got to the studio, recorded most of it live-to-tape on the first day, and somehow this bright scrappy thing is what we wound up with. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.”
‘Citrosis’ is available now. You can exclusively stream the record online and in full below:
Telethon will be touring across the States in celebration of the record’s release.
APRIL
01 MINNEAPOLIS, MN House show on Upton Ave.
02 DULUTH, MN Studio15
08 ROCK ILSAND, IL Castle Caladan
09 DELAVAN, WI LSJ Music Company
10 LAFAYETTE, IN The Knickerbocker Saloon
16 IOWA CITY, IA Governor’s Mansion
17 MILWAUKEE, WI JCPAA at Shops on Grand Ave.
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