Kevin Bronson on April 1st, 2015

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“Not Far to Go” holds a special place in Buzz Bands LA’s heart — in early 2012, fresh out of recording sessions at Raymond Richards’ Red Rockets Glare studio, Jacob Dillon Summers sent us the song, originally titled “How Far to Run” as a way of introducing his new project Lauralaura. The band is now called Avid Dancer and the song is now titled “Not Far to Go,” but it hasn’t diminished the appeal of Summers’ four-minute slice of psych-pop heaven, which Fader likened to Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” and which Summers says he wrote (“tired of the snow”) in anticipation of his original move to Los Angeles. With its shimmering guitars and loping bass line, it’s a road-tripper to be sure, one of the highlights on Avid Dancer’s debut “1st Bath” (out April 14 via Grand Jury). In other Avid Dancer exploits, the band recently released two cover songs, including “San Diego Zoo,” erroneously credited to Magnetic Fields. It’s actually a song by the Stephin Merritt side project The 6ths. Featuring Merritt collaborations with the likes of Mary Timony, Dean Wareham, Mitch Easter, Lou Barlow, Sally Timms, Bob Mould, Neil Hannon and a host of other luminaries, The 6ths released two brilliant albums in the 1990s, and “San Diego Zoo” appeared on “Wasps’ Nests,” which just marked its 20th anniversary. Check out the lovably twee original, featuring singer Barbara Manning. Meanwhile, Avid Dancer also took on the oft-covered Tears for Fears classic “Mad World,” and while we are of the opinion that nobody should have been allowed to cover this song after the Gary Jules/Michael Andrews version, it’s fine in spirit.

||| Stream: “Not Far to Go”

||| Previously: “All Your Words Are Gone,” “I Want to See You Dance,” “Stop Playing With My Heart,” Lauralaura’s “How Far to Run”

||| Also: Stream the covers of “San Diego Zoo” and “Mad World” below: