Social Studies – “Terracur”

Pairs Well With…Beach House, Miike Snow, Local Natives

Social Studies just released their sophomore disc Developer on November 19and it’s a great realization of their maturing sound.  These cuts are fully formed, filled with layers of rhythm, melody and just enough distortion.  Throughout the noise, there’s still a sense of space; Social Studies has gotten much tighter over the years.

2011 Review: an interesting indie pop band from San Francisco with a cool rock edge.  Social Studies combine many different musical genres into one cohesive sound.  The percussion is often aggressive rock focused while simple synthesized melodies dance on top of the band’s sound.  The vocals go between emotionally dramatic to bouncy pop depending on the mood of the song.  My favorite thing about Social Studies is how unexpected their music is.  A song will often take a far left turn and just as quickly move back to the regular meter.  It’s a little off-putting in a good way, keeping you focused on the music especially in its dreamier state.  Most indie “twee” pop bands go for a more ambient vibe, but Social Studies separate themselves by going for a more aggressive approach.  They are really a unique but accessible band, which is saying something among such a large pool of bands at SXSW.