Devereux Scales

Guided by the still-resonant legacy of labels like 4AD and Creation Records, Bay Area-based Devereux Scales channel those influences into Drain to Live—a record that honors its lineage while carving out a sound firmly grounded in the present.

Propelled by the dynamic guitar interplay and textured vocals of Matt Lavin and Jeremy Nunes, the ten songs on Drain to Live are at once driving and dreamy, anthemic and atmospheric, introspective and accessible—with more than a few nods to shoegaze, dark wave, and psychedelia.

“This material grapples with feelings of fear and wonderment, anxiety and doubt, and at times it is cynical and fatalistic,” explains Lavin, who is also the lyricist. “And the songs that look outward express dread for an uncertain future, shame at the crassness all around us, and the sense that everyone is just out for themselves.”

Joining Lavin and Nunes on the recording are drummer Pat Toves, bassist Ben Martin, and Linda Cleary on synthesizer and backing vocals. The album was recorded by Danielle Goldsmith at the legendary Tiny Telephone Recording in Oakland, California, and mastered by Amar Lal at Macro Sound, also in Oakland.