SWL #36: Tangerine, "Hanford Riviera"

After initially netting our attention in March with their delectable “Pale Summer” EP, the Seattle foursome of Toby Kuhn (guitar), Miro Justad (drums), Ryan Baker (bass), and Marika Justad (vocals, guitar and keyboard) returned late last week with a brand new EP of immersive and soulful pop gems titled “Radical Blossom” (also highlighted in our This Month In Releases post). When the other 50% of NGD and I aren’t scouting Bandcamp/Soundcloud/Facebook for the best opportunities to support the bounty of locally produced music in Seattle, we are earning paychecks as environmental scientists. Given that fact, it’s probably no wonder that we were instantly attracted to the second track, titled “Hanford Riviera”. For those that aren’t aware, despite years of clean-up efforts the former nuclear reservation turned Superfund site is still widely considered to be the most contaminated area in the western hemisphere. Opting for tongue-in-cheek witticisms over scathing rhetoric, Tangerine’s Marika Justad creates a saccharine love song by weaving her nuclear concerns with romance on the banks of the Columbia, where they say the water "glows at night". We like the song for its surfy pop vibe and for addressing a subject that perhaps a lot of folks in our generation just don't think about much. Pick up your copy now over at Swoon Records!