Los Angeles band MILLY have shared the third single from their highly anticipated debut album Eternal Ring, set for release September 30th via cult indie label Dangerbird Records (Grandaddy, Swervedriver). Inspired by the rough-hewn, somewhat miraculous vibe of early Pavement records, “Marcy” is a perfect example of the magic captured during the recording process, a track whose frayed edges coalesce into something tight and driving.

“It started off with me learning how to play ‘Trigger Cut’ by Pavement and I just stayed in that tuning.” explains principle songwriter Brendan Dyer, “The guitar playing and overall feel is loosely inspired by Seam’s ‘You’re Driving Me Crazy’ record and there’s definitely some Malkmus worship. Maybe some Sebadoh too. Living in LA can make you easily jaded for all the scenesters you run into at godforsaken bars and I was just tryna take the piss out on all the punishing conversations I’ve had to have. It’s LA and everyone is a smart guy (including myself, maybe).”

The MILLY of Eternal Ring is a vastly different project from the one Dyer began in his childhood bedroom. Where the band’s old songs were dazed and gorgeously laconic, Eternal Ring is muscular, punchy, almost alarmingly direct. You only need to hear album opener and debut single “Illuminate” to understand the change: slipping quickly from emo balladry into something heavy and intoxicatingly intense, it’s a clear marker that this is the work of a tighter, more dynamic MILLY. There is no slack to these songs — even the nine-minute “Stuck In The Middle” is an impossibly taut endurance work, jumping from emotive build to gut-wrenching squall in a second.

Photo Courtesy: Christian Kim