Premiere: GUIDES, ‘Abstract Mind’ EP

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GUIDES
GUIDES

In the subversive tradition of best post-punk music, the debut EP from Los Angeles trio GUIDES is conceptual, discomfiting and abrasive. And beautiful in all those ways. “Abstract Mind,” which comes out Friday, is the work of singer-guitarist Chris Cogswell, drummer Jayson Larson and bassist Be Hussey, all of whom have stellar credits playing other local outfits. It comes from a visceral place, in all its glorious melodic eccentricities, blasts of shoegazing and stream-of-consciousness imagery. Have we “lost it,” as Cogswell asks in “Get Conceptual”? “I wanted to write lyrics that went well with the expansive music we were making, including … the kind of melody that can only be heard while dreaming. That was my goal,” he says. “It’s our way of saying ‘This way, into the Abstract Mind.’”

||| Stream: “Abstract Mind” in its entirety:

||| Previously: “Pictures on Pictures”

||| Live: GUIDES perform Tuesday at the Prospector in Long Beach and Thursday at Trip, and celebrate their EP release on Oct. 1 at Harvard & Stone.