Julia Oertli and Adam Karenina Sherif have been making music together as th'sheridans for nearly two decades, and they have a new single out called Reform Strategies. It follows their recent single Painted.
The band describe themselves as "blonking through the dystopia as best we know how", and the press note calls them purveyors of scuzzy indie-pop. Reform Strategies is a laundry list of complaints about reformist strategies that undermine progressive change. The fuzzy, uplifting sound they are known for is set against what the release calls an underlying angst and grief-driven rage. The comparisons offered are Jeffrey Lewis and The Vaselines.
It wouldn't be a th'sheridans single without a cover of a song they love as a virtual b-side. Earlier this year it was their unlikely rendition of Carly Rae Jepsen's Emotion. This time they have picked People Who Died by Jim Carroll, which the press note calls all-too-resonant.
A band that follows a Carly Rae Jepsen cover with Jim Carroll, and puts a protest song about failed reform in between, is one I'm happy to back. Nearly 20 years of doing it their own way as a duo, and still turning out a single with a cover attached, says a lot about how much they care about the thing. This one is going on the list.
Reform Strategies / People Who Died is available on streaming platforms now (except Spotify).