I understand one review cannot effectively retire a tired narrative, but still, can we do away with Cymbals Eat Guitars being merely pastiche-loving sons of ‘90s college rock?

Yes, singer Joseph D’Agostino came out of the gate in 2009 with the meandering voice of Black Francis and Modest Mouse’s penchant for the shambolic, but we’re the better part of a decade apart from their debut, Why There Are Mountains. Between then and now rests a critically misunderstood second album, a third album that could be accurately described as either their unabashed rock n’ roll record or darkest record, and finally, this month’s Pretty Years, their most anthemic work to date.

In terms of openers for their release show this past Friday, Cymbals Eat Guitars couldn’t have picked a duo that remain reverent to their influences without resting on them better than Wildhoney and Field Mouse. Perennially doused in psychedelic projections and guitar pedals, Baltimore’s Wildhoney are the best active dream pop band that avoid being labeled as such. Their social media presence does a pretty solid job at making their pop intentions known while scrubbing out any descriptors starting with “dream” or ending with “-gaze”. Beyond the internet though, their set was a winning showcase of the delirious catchiness underneath deafening waves of distortion.

Similarly, New York’s Field Mouse can’t help but write unstoppably catchy guitar hooks, but the five piece deserve a far more conscious descriptor than “dream pop”. Leading off with “The Mirror”, the opening song off of this year’s Episodic LP, singer Rachel Browne quips “what a way to say fuck off” before dismantling some fool’s overblown ego with smirking lyricism. Matched with the band’s piercing guitar work and the funniest pins I’ve seen a band offer in a long while, Browne and co. added some lucidity to the tropes of dream pop.

One would assume Cymbals wouldn’t have to cater to anyone but devoted fans on the night of their album release show, but D’Agostino seemed armed and ready to defend Pretty Years.

“That was kinda fun!”, a wayward crowdgoer barked two songs deep into the new material. “They’re all kinda fun… fancy that,” D’Agostino immediately shot back in his steely deadpan.

The slight surprise is justified; Years is packed with the band’s fuzziest riffs and the kind of immediate choruses that would make even the most sober attendee consider a fist pump. The “fun” song in question, “4th of July, Philadelphia (Sandy)”, played out live like Cymbals’ best attempt at a Killers song on overblown amps. “Have A Heart” subtly mirrors Patti Smith’s “Because the Night”, which is a totally reasonable influence for any band’s mid-career big single attempt, but the reaction to its opening chords was the loudest of the night.

Admittedly, some longing for the band’s earlier material was to be expected. The sole inclusion from Mountains, “…And The Hazy Sea”, made new song “Well” feel a bit stiff after all six minutes of its haywire glory, but the career-spanning set as a whole felt natural amongst a crowd of devotees. After a decade of trying to evade the hype of the late ‘00s college rock revival, Cymbals seem content in distortion-heavy heartland rock with the band’s trademark wackiness still intact. Maybe the pretty years are still to come after all…

For photos from the show, check out our gallery below.