Still Woozy has an obsession with reversing love’s unnerving anxieties into garage pop euphoria. The Portland-via-Moraga songwriter/producer reworks genres like one of Koyoharu’s Hashiras – distorting homespun bedroom pop with introverted microdoses of folk, pre-Auto-Tuned soul, and the ‘Strawberry Jam’ side of psychedelia. 2019’s ‘Lately’ EP backed ‘ Goodie Bag ’ with ‘ Habit ’ and unfiltered hits of ‘boy brow’ escapism while 2021’s ‘ If This Isn’t Nice, Then I Don’t Know What Is ‘ buffered downers with the infinite appeal of ‘Room On Fire’, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, and Lil Wayne’s ‘Mrs.
Officer’. Woozy’s sophomore effort, ‘ Loveseat ‘ , pantomimes feelings in a familiar key, but he punches in soundscapes that find beauty in the ‘little things’ to really lean into your heart. As expected, Sven Gamsky can still make a melody out of anything.
‘Loveseat’ dissects themes of fatherhood and the Pacific Northwest with an ear-melting synesthesia of red, yellow, and blue – displacing his affection for bright guitar riffage with swirling synths and drum patterns that are more summer than a Tweety Bird Bar. ‘ Ag ain ’ and ‘Forwards’ pick up where ‘Cooks’ dazed off, impressively melding lo-fi, funk, and R&B into an evocatively rich blend of ideas that slows it up with ‘Baby’, an ode to ending all the needless space in between. On ‘ Lemon ’ , Gamsky’s still in his head about his imperfections but eve.
