Crafting a memorable fusing of shoegaze, dream-pop, and alternative, Brooklyn-based married duo smush showcase their strong sound with two recent covers: Hotline TNT’s “Lawyers in Love” and Retail Drug’s “41.” The former was released as a free download on Bandcamp on December 5th, while “41” debuted on December 12th. The releases follow their 2024 debut album, if you were here i’d be home now. Both covers show the gripping stylishness and melodic immediacy capable from the duo, who met in Vancouver before relocating to Brooklyn.
“Lawyers In Love” commences with invigorating charisma, as heavy guitar distortion and thrashing rhythms move into a lushly absorbing vocal presence — beckoning “choke it down / sleep around” as strumming acoustics clang with textured immersion. The track artfully embraces fuzzy ardor, with occasional momentum-filled percussive turns — like past the one-minute mark — adding to the delectably hazy mix. It’s a fantastic take on the Hotline TNT track.
Similarly, their cover of Retail Drug’s “41” succeeds with a constant sense of climactic structural whimsy — this time expanding from subdued, strumming guitars into a whirring blast of distortion and enthused vocals. “Everybody’s gone, and I get over it,” the vocals let out. An especially spine-tingling moment takes hold as the strings enter the mix past mid-point, as the impassioned vocals admit “there’s not enough to make you want to stay.”
smush will be releasing a covers EP, standards, in early 2026. Stream these two covers, below:
—
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
