”Oyster Cuts”, the Merge Records debut and fourth LP overall from Quivers, is an ambitious assortment of jangly and synth-pop tunes. With their trademark expansive sound and crisp production by Matthew Redlich, the Melbourne (by way of Tasmania), Australia–based outfit’s music rests alongside a thoughtful mix of lyrics discussing grief, breakup, longing, and love.
Quivers caught my ear in a major way in ’22 when I first heard “When It Breaks” off ”Golden Doubt” (Ba Da Bing, 2021). With jangle turned up to 11, the song is a dopamine surge of indie pop goodness. It’s that paralyzingly good. REM’s influence is strong on this and other tracks like “You’re Not On My Mind”, but I was happy to hear other touchstones in my wheelhouse, including Brisbane’s Go-Betweens, particularly on “Gutters of Love”, the lead track that packs a knockout pop punch.
Quivers are a four-piece: Bella Quinlan (vocals, bass), Sam Nicholson (vocals, words, guitars, piano, synths), Michael Panton (vocals, guitars, tape loops), and Holly Thomas (vocals, drums). Bella and Sam share lead vocals more here than on prior LPs, imparting such different influences on songs. While not always the case, Sam sings the up-tempo tunes while Bella’s specialty shines with moody slow burners.
Contrary to the band’s name, Quivers are a tough bunch in terms of musical chutzpah. In 2020, they courageously (some may say insanely) covered the classic REM LP, ”Out of Time” for Seattle label, Turntable Kitchen. In a four day window during the mixing of ”Golden Doubt”, their version yielded truly inspiring results more akin to reinterpretation than mere replication. Don’t believe me? Check out “Texarcana” here.
Band personnel has also had their share of life challenges, from childhood cancer to sibling deaths. Through these harrowing life moments, their music brims with vitality much more so than simple pop songs typically can hold.
While the band has always harmonized to great effect with the women’s BVs especially high in the mix, Bella’s lead vocals add tremendously to the sonic range and my enjoyment of “Oyster”, kicking off on the immediately grabbing first track, “Never Be Lonely”. I was thrilled to hear more from her, having really enjoyed her lead vocals on the REM LP on songs like “Near Wild Heaven” as well as with the single from this record, “If Only”, released back in ’22.
“Pink Smoke” follows with Sam singing. The song’s blueprint is a Venn diagram overlaying the Go-Bee’s with a dash of twangy, bent-note, sonic dissonance reminiscent of another hometown Melbourne band, Rolling Blackouts C.F.
“More Lost” sounds like a Pixies tune re-wired as jangle-friendly, complete with stylings of Frank Black’s rambling guitar squeaks and squirrelly one-note-at-a-time rambles. Bella and Holly sing “is to be in love to be more lost?” Chunky Weezer “Say It Ain’t So”-esque power chords put real meat on the lyric.
“Apparition” is a 60’s fueled track with Sam channeling Robert Forster in the verses before it explodes into a Raspberries or Teenage Fanclub power-pop guitar fest. Sing-a-long worthy, despite the grim vision of turning into an apparition when your partner up and leaves you. Sam doesn’t abandon us to drown in as he upliftingly sings “don’t get ahead of yourself / don’t patent your sorrow / if your heart’s not open yet, just try again tomorrow.”
“Grief Has Feathers” is the moment when “Oyster” becomes transcendent. Turn down the lights and put this tune on your late-night playlist. Gentle synths and drum machine beats are so nice to hear as a new side of Quivers. Beautifully arranged music flows with a piano passage that accompanies Sam’s poetic, lyrical chorus. It’s genuinely moving and maybe the strongest track on the LP. Give the band credit for taking some risks with the key changes in places, lending the song greater vitality.
The title track keeps the synth and loop train rolling even more prominently. Moody, but lithe as well, Quivers is exploring a lighter pop sound with Bella on lead vocals.
“If Only” is gorgeous ballad released as a single in ’22. This one is a poster child love song for longing, and the bent-noted guitar riffs are pitch perfect as well. BTW, seek out the single since it’s backed with a fresh version of the already perfect ’88 song by Lucinda Williams, “I Just Wanted To See You So Bad”.
“Fake Flowers” follows and is an up-tempo, immediately hooky, killer tune. The fuzzy guitars come in and give it bite, while the power chords back the snarky chorus, “you’re worth your weight in fake flowers”. This one will bring the house down live.
Album closer, “Reckless”, is another late-night playlist must-have. Stripped back and fueled with a droning beat, the tune sounds like a one-take, live-in-studio performance, accompanied by a sweet little guitar passage, looped “oh oh oh oh” BVs, and spacey synth notes. Bella and Holly sing “I wanna be more reckless” while Sam harmonizes. At six minutes, this one may be the “Cortez the Killer” of the Quivers’ catalog; an epic that will perfectly fit into the last half of or close live sets. [Pro-tip: put on “Gene Clark”, the closer on Teenage Fanclub’s ”Thirteen” (UMG, 1993) next, get back in your beanbag chair, and blissfully zone out.]
Overall “Oyster Cuts” is a solid accomplishment and certainly a natural progression for Quivers, a still-young band with much more ahead, I hope.
See ‘em live. Quivers are on an ambitious world tour that runs into early 2025.
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