Marshy: Swamp Sounds

The few songs Japanese project Swamp Sounds has shared online…well, let’s say whoever is behind it chose an accurate name. These tracks are oftentimes damp, distorted guitar and harsh bass constricting on songs such as the especially tight (in terms of noise, it is actually quite jumbled sonically) “Kontra” (below). Yet the key to Swamp Sounds early output…and what separates it from a, uhh, marsh of other gloomy dudes throwing up dark noise online…are the flashes of light that come through. The bulk of “Houndstooth” (below) is pulverizing, but allows for splashes of warmer synth melodies and even piano, while most recent composition “Moon Circle” (above) lets the keyboard and surprisingly welcoming beat rise up above the fuzz. Like contemporary Cemetery or spiritual Japanese predecessors Jesse Ruins and Figure, Swamp Sounds’ embrace of shadowy sounds gets immediate attention…but its the optimism that keeps you digging in deeper.