People sometimes forget that the “c” in “ctverses” stands for “crag mask“. The members of the aggro crag all have their own side/solo projects [this is what makes the band a New HaVoltron], with Shyanne Horner’s band SHY, Quinn Pirie’s band Sincera, and now Zayne Couch’s Zouchpotato*. You may know Zayne as the hunk, whoops I mean lead guitarist, of Crag Mank, but in Zouchpotato he’s calling the shots! That sounds a little more aggressive than it probably should because his music is quite mellow and meditative. If you require another m-lettered adjective, I might also offer “mathy” to that list. We are excited to premiere the first official song from the new album Give and Take: “Inside Voice”. And hey, it’s been exactly one year since this project premiered with some demos on bandcamp. Happy Birthday, Zouchpotato.
Couch is front and center with his voice and guitar, and Phil Lord (Crag Mask, Mount Meridian) on bass, and Jason Rule (Queen Moo, Zanders, and 40% of all rock music in CT) on drums. The album was recorded over the past year at Lord’s Dog Year Studios and features 10 tracks (12 with the International import version). You can hear it now on bandcamp!
“Inside Voice” is a good representation of Give and Take as a whole — it is knotty, restless, and melodic in its own enigmatic way. To be completely honest, it is a song that I liked the first time I heard it, and loved the third time I heard it. Each song has its own secrets to share, whether it be a shifting guitar progression or vocal hook that you missed on your first pass. “Inside Voice” (like the rest of Zouchpotato’s music) unfolds gently and beautifully over time. If you had to make a comparison to Crag Mice, it’s softer, more tangled, and more intimate. And the album has a beautiful dog on its cover (front and back), so if you haven’t pressed Play on that embed above, what are you even doing man?
*The bass player, Phil Lord, has a new EP coming out in March under the name “Dog Years”. Please ask him about it!
