Providence-based Ted Bradley plays in Empty Country, the epic melancholic heartland rock project of former Cymbals Eat Guitars leader Joseph D'Agostino. In Strange Pains, the musicians slide into different roles. Bradley is the singer-songwriter here, and D'Agostino is the producer and sideman extraordinaire.
The Strange Pains braintrust has been hard at work on an 18-song double album called The Diamond District with plans for release later this year. In December, they shared "Boomerang," an exhilarating rocker that reminded me of a bunch of my early 2000s indie favorites jumbled together (think Wrens x Shins x Trail Of Dead).
Today they're back with "Memory Man," a majestically fuzz-bombed pop song that feels like Sparklehorse renovating a lost gem from Rivers Cuomo's hard drive, or perhaps Superchunk channeling the War On Drugs. You get it: If you've earnestly uttered the phrase "dudes rock" but you also are trailed by a faint cloud of sadness, you'll probably dig this — and even if not, you'll probably end up humming along.
Hear "Memory Man" and the aforementioned "Boomerang" below.
