Pleasures arrive just in time for Spring with a deluxe issuing of their 2018 self-released cassette Softly Wait. Due out April 6th via Seattle’s Halfshell Records, look for the Pleasures’ album to be available on cassette, CD, and 12” vinyl LP. Softly Wait finds songwriters Aron Pollard and George Miller teamed up once again with River Nason, though this time he is on drums. Additionally, the trio is joined by saxophonist Adrienne Kerr.
“Cruisin’ with Drink” is a perfect introduction to the Pleasures’ breezy new direction. While the band’s 2016 effort Safe Trip was heavier and garage rock oriented, Softly Wait finds the band exchanging their keyboards for guitars as they follow a more yacht rock tack out to sunnier seas. The band reports they recorded the track, as well as the cut “Studio Seven,” about a year and a half ago. Laid down in four-hour sessions over a three month period at Pink Cloud and Georgia City in Seattle, they explain that “Cruisin’ with Drink” is about “whispering vapid sweet nothings to your local jaded cult leader.”
Pleasures’ buoyant synth-pop meets Adrienne Kerr’s sultry horn on the track, as the band exudes a smooth, adult contemporary vibe. While that might conjure up vanilla visions of Michael Bolton and Toto, this group’s DIY, bedroom approach makes their version of yacht rock distinctly more interesting. Instead of sailing out on the sunny waters of Southern California, “Cruisin’ with Drink” offers the partly cloudy aquatic dream of the Pacific Northwest. The band’s combination of 80’s-style synth and sax might harken back to the days of boat shoes and sweaters tied over the shoulders, but Aron Pollard’s vocals add a weird groovy vibe to the track that, ultimately, gives it a more introspective feel.
