April Magazine

April Magazine combines the talents of a handful of Bay Area indie pop notables into a collective that releases fragile and noisy songs that land right in the sweet spot between <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">Velvet Underground</a> hum and <a href="spotify:artist:4Nu0EL8c5d2vFHPOcNjlBP">Pastels</a> warble with a heavy dose of slowcore static in the mix. A string of digital singles primed listeners for the group's sound; late 2021 brought both a collection of said releases -- If the Ceiling Were a Kite, Vol. 1 -- and their first LP, Sunday Music for an Overpass.

The collective formed in early 2018 when Peter Hurley (member of Teenage Chain and founder of San Francisco communal space Hit Gallery), Katiana Mashikian (of Mister Baby and <a href="spotify:artist:5onPoueRGS17tA2CcceUiz">Reds, Pinks and Purples</a>' live band), and Mike Ramos (Tony Jay, <a href="spotify:artist:1nw4TqIaEz5D0VYqvwhrJi">Flowertown</a>) began recording songs in Hurley's bedroom on a four-track recorder. Forsaking sonic clarity for documentation, the trio hit on a sound that was equal parts fragile indie pop balladry and fuzzily dreamlike slowcore. Most often Hurley played guitar and sometimes sang, Mashikian sang and played bass, and Ramos provided drums. Guitarist David Diaz soon joined them, and the group's first recording, the single "Shirley, Don't"/"Goodbye Jane," was released in March 2018. The collective -- which tended to rise and swell as members were available and auxiliary players like Julia Waves, Ian Collins, Anthony Comstock, and Zach Vito joined or left -- issued a five-song demo in July and got together to play the occasional show.

In March 2019, April Magazine recorded a Jam in the Van show, then two months later released a three-song EP, Parade, which held firm to their lo-fi aesthetic. Later in the year, the group traveled to Japan, which they documented by gathering a batch of previously unreleased songs. The six-track EP Songs for Japan was issued in March 2020. The collective's first full album, Sunday Music for an Overpass, found them in the same lo-fidelity mindset and was their first recording to be released physically -- by Paisley Shirt Records in September 2021. A month later, the U.K. label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tough+Love%22">Tough Love</a> issued a collection of tracks recorded and released by April Magazine between 2018 and 2020. If the Ceiling Were a Kite, Vol. 1 provided a fine introduction to the group and their sound. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi