Sweeping Promises dropped out of nowhere the summer of 2020 with “Hunger for a Way Out”, one of the best debuts of the year, a record that found Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnu fully formed, compressing decades of post-punk, punk, riot girl, alt-rock, etc into punchy pop diamonds. The songs were purposefully lo-fi, had no room for solos or jams, only hooks, with Mondal belting out memorable chorus after memorable chorus. “Hunger” played, and still does, like a greatest hits album. Three years later, having relocated from Boston to Lawrence, KS and signed to Sub Pop everywhere except North America (they’re currently still on Feel It here), the duo are back with their follow up.
Signing to a Big Indie doesn’t seem to have changed Sweeping Promises one bit. “Good Living Is Coming For You” — is that title a warning, like “the call is coming from inside the house!” — sounds like it was recorded on cassette and redubbed a few times, with a hissy compressed sound that is clearly a stylistic choice and doesn’t detract from another wonderful batch of razor-sharp earworms.
The density of the hooks on these 10 songs, most under three minutes, is staggering, with basslines worthy of early Cure, slash-and-burn riffage, bleating sax, weirdo keyboards, drums that wallop without being showy, and Mondal’s voice which just seems to have gotten better over the last three years. Across punky burners “Eraser,” “You Shatter”, nervy skronk “Connoisseur of Salt,” and dancy new wave pop “Throw the Dice,” “Walk in Place”, Sweeping Promises deliver the goods with confidence and swagger. “Petit Four” is the whole album in a song: funky, anxious, angry, and fun, with Mondal delivering guttural screams and heavenly harmonies over a tight rhythm section groove and wonderful little guitar parts.
New single ‘Eraser’ out now. New album ‘Good Living Is Coming For You’ out June 30th via Feel It Records (North America) and Sub-Pop (Rest of World).
The Fat Angel Sings 