Song of the Day: Ride - Charm Assault

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters, is “Charm Assault”, by Ride, from their forthcoming album, Weather Diaries, due June 16th on on Wichita Recordings.

Ride - Charm Assault (MP3)The collapse of Ride, the legendary shoegaze band that dominated the early 90's, was easily identified through a shift in song writing style. The group went from coaxing fuzz filled songs out of jam sessions to Andy Bell and Mark Gardener bringing already written songs to the studio and dividing the album (see Tarantula) by song author. So, it makes sense that the group's reunion started with a return to the core of what had fueled the band's greatness: having fun playing music with each other. The Oxford quartet reunited in 2014 and showed that time had done nothing to halt the force that was and still is Ride. And now the group has escalated their reunion further with their first new music in 20 years. "Charm Assault" is the first single from upcoming album, Weather Diaries, and shows that the band is back to their old ways of pulling melodic bliss from a pit of fuzz infused noise. A meandering guitar line trades off with a punchy chorus, and the song takes you back to Nowhere-era Ride, while avoiding any sort of staleness. The group credits the political grey cloud over the UK for the source of inspiration, which is mirrored by a dark breakdown midway through the song. But while political grey clouds may continue to assault the charm of people around the world, it is at least a little brighter when Ride is making music.

You can catch Ride in Seattle at The Neptune on September 24th. Until then, keep up with the band on their website and Facebook, and check out the music video for "Charm Assault" below.