On “True,” Tidal Daze Offers their Own Brand of Post-Punk Sentimentality

A recent NPR story addressed the proliferation of “therapy talk,” an increasing form of vulnerability in contemporary conversation that is, by default a design, tantamount to a carny talk of the heart. In the sense that in lieu of a direct transmission of what one is actually feeling, those very same emotions are tied up a little too tightly in a suffocating bow of wellness.

The latest from beaches indie quartet Tidal Daze is thankfully more tapped into the blunt emotional and musical timbre of working-class post-punks like early 1980s New Order and The Pastels than conveying a “posture of authenticity over my pain body.” 

The opening track of their new The First Coast EP is an impressive three and a half minutes of forward momentum, punk enough to spray-paint the proverbial heart-space yet boasting a casual sentimentality that seems to expire when adolescence is engulfed and devoured by adulthood, in this case via chiming guitars, a lockstep rhythm section, and earnest vocals. The band (vocalist Bridget Nickens, guitarist Tyler Duplaga and drummer Trevor Pechtimaldjian) released a debut EP less than a year ago that has its own rough merits. Yet in the performance, production, and cohesion of “True,” Tidal Daze have given us a pretty impressive example of when shoegaze goes barefoot with its toes in the incoming waves.