Big Troubles: "Bite Yr Tongue"

Ridgewood, NJ is suddenly exporting all kinds of indie rockers to Brooklyn: Real Estate, Julian Lynch, Titus Andronicus (technically from suburb-next-door Glen Rock). Big Troubles is the latest young band to emerge from that land of manicured lawns and nuclear families. Taken under the wing of the Real Estate boys, the band just released their first album, Worry, on Brooklyn label Olde English Spelling Bee. Ridgewood isn’t Bruce Springsteen’s New Jersey; it’s a wealthy suburb known for top-notch schools. But there’s no mistaking where Big Troubles’s ’90s-style shoegaze has its roots: music made for backyards and empty swimming pools. “Bite Yr Tongue,” the album’s latest single, fits New Jersey better than Real Estate’s breezy California sound. Underneath the grime and buzz, you’ll find a pretty damn cheerful but unassuming melody.

Big Troubles wear their influences on their flannel sleeves, channeling early My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, and ’90s Slumberland Records groups like Black Tambourine. It’s simple shoegaze grounded by an ear-catching new wave synth hook. The vocals, comprised of bittersweet “oohs” and mumbled lyrics, are awash in reverb and inevitably melt away into the fuzz. “Bite Yr Tongue” is the right kind of song for back-to-school September; it’s got that epic end-of-a-film feel that mixes longing and cautious excitement. Suburban Jersey kids know this feeling all too well, and Big Troubles have created great music to accompany a walk home from school, passing strip malls and McMansions, letting the noise carry you away.