Cruel Summer releases their Ivy via LP and digital on Mt. St. Mtn. on June 30. Cruel Summer’s sound evokes the dazed, fuzzed-out, swirling noise of the late 1980s UK sound while still sticking to their pop roots–they’ve aptly been crowned San Francisco’s “jangle darlings.”
Following their 2013 ST/EP (Mt. St. Mtn.,) they released the sold-out lathe-cut 7-inch for “Leeches,” accompanied by a video. In 2016, Cruel Summer released “Around You, Around Me,” recorded for L.A.’s Part Time Punks, the 7-inch b-side features a moody cover of Pylon’s “Crazy.” It was mastered by Kramer (Galaxie 500 and Low).
Ivy is the long-awaited, first full-length album from this quartet, who have become a mainstay in the San Francisco and Oakland club scene. Recorded at Santo Studio in Oakland, California by Jason Kick (Sonny & the Sunsets, Once and Future Band, Mild High Club, Maus Haus), the record is a love poem to San Francisco, with all its changes and disappointments. Cruel Summer recently completed a California tour with the UK’s Primitives, and in early August they will be accompanying the ’90s noise pop demons Swirlies on a full west coast tour.
Catch them live here:
6/22 – San Francisco, CA @ The Knockout w/ Terry Malts, Male Gaze
7/8 –  Guernville, CA @ Deathstock III
8/3 –  San Diego, CA @ Space (fka Hideout) w/ The Swirlies
8/4 –  Visalia, CA @ Cellar Door w/ The Swirlies
8/5 –  Las Vegas, NV @ Beauty Bar w/ The Swirlies
8/6 –  Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo w/ The Swirlies
8/7 –  Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst Atrium w/ The Swirlies
8/8 –  San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel w/ The Swirlies
8/10 –  Portland, OR @ The Doug Fir w/ The Swirlies
8/11 –  Seattle, WA @ Barboza w/ The Swirlies
8/12 –  Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown w/ The Swirlies