***"'What do I do? Is this living?' In asking these questions, Richmond-based musician Sarah Everton underlines the absurdity of human existence. We reach out for meaning in an indifferent world. Jane From Preoccupied America, the debut LP from her project Added Dimensions, explores what we do in the face of this indifference: the bullshit we preoccupy ourselves with, the anxieties we develop as we suffer through the mundane, the coping mechanisms we adopt, the people we choose to be. What makes this record great is the extent to which this is communicated, not just via lyrical content but by the music itself. Sarah’s loose overdubs and hauntingly beautiful multi-part harmonies are fastened to a backbone provided by Rob Garcia’s deceptively simple drumming—a bundle of insecurities standing upright, moving through the world one step at a time, perhaps a little unsure but steady. Some tracks spread indie pop sweetness over primitive punk (imagine Tender Trap backed by Buck Biloxi), not unlike a facade you put up to avoid fully crumbling into despair after witnessing another day of atrocities. Other tracks eschew melodicism in favor of something more akin to Wire’s brash matter-of-factness, multi-tracked until reaching a Swell Maps-esque DIY wall of sound, reflecting a more measured approach you might need to adopt to navigate some acute crisis—focused and pragmatic, but ultimately a little surreal. It’s a record that celebrates living by virtue of existing, which, really, is all any of us can do."—Alex Howell (Garbage in My Heart)
LP $23.95
10/03/2025
***Time Suck / Hellbent is the first vinyl EP from Richmond, Virginia’s Added Dimensions (the home recording project helmed by Sarah Everton of Blowdryer and Telepathic), following a self-released, self-titled cassette released in 2022. Sarah’s trebly/jangly guitar riffs and sneaky bass lines are backed by a charge of unfussy, driving drums from Rob Garcia, all cloaked in the perfect amount of lo-fi Tascam grit, as she lyrically pares down the heavy psychic weight of modern living (the social cost of convenience and connectivity, the inane routine of labor as a means of survival, etc.) into disarmingly hooky mini-manifestoes—even the sugar-coated melodies can’t hide the harsh truths behind lines like “every day, same as before” (“Interruption”). Wire rubbing elbows with the Shop Assistants as a C86 band? A Kim Deal-fronted Urinals? Charms you can’t resist!
7" $9.75
04/12/2024