1st Base Runner, the recording name of Austin, Texas musician and producer Tim Husmann is back with another EP, this time entitled Light Roars. His third release in a year, the prolific Husmann has been growing and maturing his sound at a startling rate, and there’s really nothing else quite like it today as he combines the hazy, dense sonics of My Bloody Valentine (although this is not shoegaze) with the gloomy post-punk of Joy Division. The most notable difference from the artist’s previous releases is the presence of live drums, lending his gothic, post-rock sensibility a somewhat rawer and heavier sound.
The change is immediately obvious on the opener “In The Beginning” which features thundering, complex Budgie like drumming, giving the song a more brooding, slightly-menacing atmosphere which evolves over the EP and culminates with the sinister goth Radiohead vision that is “Planter.” It might be repetitive to say this, but the project really does get better with every successive release, and Light Roars plays like the most crystallized realization of Husmann’s concept. As 1st Base Runner is already planning future releases, it will be fascinating to watch how this completely unique musician continues to unfold and discover his sound.
