Its a Myth

Description

Its a Myth is Sneaks 2nd album. With little more than a bass, drum machine, and deadpan vocals, Sneaks, a.k.a. Eva Moolchan, makes minimalist music that takes up space something she herself has made a point of doing in the male-heavy Washington, D.C., DIY punk scene that has been her home. Moolchans compelling songwriting, along with the fervid energy of her shows, prompted breakout D.C. label Sister Polygon to release her 2015 debut Gymnastics, which Merge reissued in September 2016. Its a Myth builds on Sneaks playfully stark approach to post-punk, which, as her hometown City Paper described it, causes listeners to go from curious to provoked to hungry. Hungry, in part, because the new album clocks in at just 18 minutes of 10 taut, captivating tracks (but still a feast compared to Gymnastics 14 minutes). It also adds Jonah Takagi and Ex Hex/Helium frontwoman Mary Timony, who recorded the album at Timonys D.C. studio. Shes got art in her brain, Timony has said of Moolchan. Her brain is making beautiful stuff. Though it flows from influences like Pylon and Bush Tetras, much of that beautiful stuff is hard to categorize or compare to anything else. Its herkyjerky and fluid all at once, childlike and yet deeply perceptive. Im so sure what Ive been told and I dont need it, she sings on Devo (a title that appropriately conjures another incarnation of robotic insight). I dont knowwhat Ive just learned but I wont repeat it. And while some songs revolve around repetition of the mundane (Me n me n me n me n you/ You n you n you n you n me in With a Cherry On Top), others are unequivocal confrontation (You think you got a lot to say/ No you think you need a bigger stage/ You think I cant contain my rage/ Let me see you bend your breaks on Hair Slick Back). Moolchan calls Sneaks a character that shes playing, and theres certainly an element of mystery around the persona and her riddles. But its also all her, born out of full solo creative control after stints in a number of D.C. bands. When Im writing songs, its actually pretty selfish, because its like, this is what I need to hear right now in my life, she has said. Its surely what others need to hear as well.