Infinite Shuffle

Jeff Mangum has slowly come out of seclusion during the past couple of years. There’s no telling what spurred his re-emergence. A sudden urge to share more of his music with the world? Maybe his finances took a nosedive. Or perhaps he’s noticed the recent wave of singers who share his unique vocal stylings and wanted to remind everyone who does it best.

Alas, his appearances are still relatively sporadic. So, if you’re interested in hearing that voice — and not lucky enough to see him — you could always turn to one of those aforementioned poseurs.

The latest one to show up on the indie scene is Gashcat, a crew of folk-rockers from Austin, Texas.

As you can tell by lead singer Kyle Craft’s vocals, it’d be hard to get away from the Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons. Some of the best representations of this are on such standout tracks as “The Morning Sun”, “Every Summer, Every Spring” and “Ghost of a Ghost”.

However, Gashcat do take their sound in a slightly different direction. As the album progresses, the band starts to move down a path toward pop. Craft’s voice occasionally attains a Lindsey Buckingham inflection.

For now, Gashcat are still very much under the radar. But a solid showing at SXSW this year should help it build some momentum. With any luck, they’ll continue carving out their own niche on their next release.