Album of the week: Amends by Them Are Us Too

The last few weeks have been great for new music. Asides from the new Hanzel und Gretyl, Aiboforcen, and Helalyn Flowers albums that came out in the last few weeks, I have been really digging the final release Amends from the Oakland post-punk/dreampop band Them Are Us Too.  I fell in love with Them Are Us Too when I saw the video for "Floor" on Facebook, I was immediately captivated by the song. The songs on Amends were unfinished at the time of guitarist Cash Ashkew's tragic death in the 2016 Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, CA. As a result, this is a final gift from Kennedy Ashlyn who worked on completing them with some of Cash's closest friends and family. I regret not checking out their music sooner however it is better late than never, I have yet to take a break from listening to the album since I started listening to it 2 weeks ago (I think). The results is a beautiful tribute Cash and a lovely parting gift for fans of the band. I love dreampop and Amends is a stunning collection of dreampop tunes, and certainly one of the best releases of 2018. It is awful the way TAUT ended and Cash's life ended too soon but I am grateful that Kennedy was able to take some unfinished songs and give the band's fans one last gift. I certainly look forward to hearing Kennedy's new project SRSQ.