“Shattered to perfection,” says the bio of Bay Area lo-fi trio Now—and that’s not just a cool phrase, it’s pretty accurate. William Smith (Cindy), Hannah Forrester (Thunder Boys), and Oli Lipton (Cindy, Violent Change) sound like they smashed their record collections—full of obscure ’80s UK underground, post-punk, and ’60s/’70s sunshine psych—into tiny pieces, then glued them back together at random. The result? A wildly entertaining pop record that lands four decades late and right on time.
In Pathécolor and 1 Way to Go could’ve been underground smashes in the ’80s, and honestly should be now. What Happened to Johnny finds Now going undercover punk, but these are just a few standouts on a record packed with them. Start with the opening one-two of The Ballad of Joy Bang and Careening, and let the trip unfold.
Now Does The Trick is out now on K Records and Perennial.