Haunter
Please Understand [CS/DL; Self-Released]

Haunter proclaims Please Understand was recorded in Aidan’s house and mixed at John’s apartment, and I can’t help but wonder if these dwellings exist in some 90s wormhole. Please Understand has the space of time in its production; a band tapped into a sound and era that always teases itself as the next nostalgic period of pop cultural reflection and yet, those cocaine-fueled 80s seem to blast right past back into the public consciousness. That’s a tragedy for those looking for flannel button-ups and corduroy jeans to come back in fashion along with hemp chokers and Birkenstock sandals, but a blessing for a band of Haunter’s fidelity.

Please Understand lingers somewhere between the post-MBV shoegaze fall-off of the mid-90s and the lilting, haunting outer world of Duster in the late 90s. It’s dreamy, pastoral jangle, but never turns itself toward a full embrace of the wall of noise to its north or the chill melodies and spatial distance to its south. Now, place Please Understand in the present tense and it’s a tape without a real home. Few are embracing this sort of pseudo-pop drone right now, which is why Haunter occupy a space all their own and why this cassette is hitting all the right marks despite its aged compass points. Of course, being displaced by time has made the needle hop all over the place so a clear reading of just exactly where Haunter is in our weird morass of displacement is not to be had. Makes this jaunt all the more thrilling.

Cerberus

Cerberus seeks to document the spate of home recorders and backyard labels pressing limited-run LPs, 7-inches, cassettes, and objet d’art with unique packaging and unknown sound. We love everything about the overlooked or unappreciated. If you feel you fit such a category, email us here.

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