Long Beach-based husband-and-wife duo Brightmoon (Becca and Billy Mohler) return with a new digital single and video that attempts—and succeeds at—a high-wire act of 90s indie worship.

Tackling the catalogue of Washington D.C. post-hardcore iconoclasts Shudder to Think is no small feat; the band was notorious for jagged chords, slippery time signatures, and the operatic gymnastics of Craig Wedren. Yet, on this cover of ‘Lies About the Sky,’ Brightmoon manages to transmute those angular, art-damaged anxieties into a lush, roiling expanse of shoegaze and dream pop.

While Billy Mohler (a prolific session ace and composer) lays down a foundation of explosive percussion and sparkling, abstract guitar work that smooths out the original’s mathematical edges, vocalist Becca Mohler anchors the track with an ethereal gravity. The result is a recording that feels like a spiritual conversation between the West Coast dream-pop revival and the echoes of the D.C. punk scene—a world Becca knows intimately from her time working at the legendary 9:30 Club.

Regarding the decision to reinterpret such a notoriously complex track, Becca Mohler offers the following insight:

“We are beyond excited to release our cover of ‘Lies About the Sky’ (Shudder to Think cover) via Noon Records, a UK-based indie/shoegaze label! This song is one of our mutual favorites of all time, it’s dreamy, abstract, and heart wrenchingly devastating all at once. The lyrics feel almost elusive but are also deeply emotional, and it’s always been a song that calls out to me.

Having lived and worked in DC, Dischord Records was a huge influence. Billy grew up on the West Coast, but we share the same deep love for Dischord bands, so it felt inevitable that Shudder to Think would come up when we started talking about cover song ideas. The moment we began playing this one acoustically, we both got incredibly excited! It truly is a remarkable song, and Craig Wedren is an immensely talented human. We’re honored to present our version of it!”

The single serves as a primer for the band’s upcoming six-song EP, ‘First Light,’ due out via the boutique UK imprint Noon Records. For fans of Sea Lemon, Horsegirl, and the sweeter side of the Dischord back catalog.

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