Darl Ferm’s artist recommendation: “Between 2004 and 2008, I was in the formative years of high school at a time when illegal downloading had become incredibly easy (it kind of always has been). The singer from my old band, Day Sleeper, had the mental stamina to search for obscure bands that only grew in popularity through music pirating, so I got a lot of recommendations from him.

The Lassie Foundation was one of those bands (their fan base growing from 10 to probably 100 at most). It’s easy to call the band a combination of My Bloody Valentine and The Beach Boys, and that’s exactly what it is. I think it’s genius to take 2 very different walls of sound and combine them into a very unique shoegaze experience. Additionally, I’m a big fan of shoegaze, and The Lassie Foundation’s Pacifico record is one of the few albums I enjoy listening to the entire way through.

LF is a band that feels good to like. Their lyrics are goofy in an awful way, but it doesn’t really matter because their music feels very upbeat. It’s also fun to like a band that no one knows of, to the point where you’ll never meet anyone who has even heard the name before. But maybe that’s just me.

While a lot of great shoegaze bands, such as Swirlies, will take the abstract elements of the genre, LF saturates their music in simple and perfectly-played pop, leaving you wishing you thought of it first.”

About our guest author, Darl Ferm: Darl is the bass player for Speedy Ortiz, the alternative band from North Hampton, MA that is winning big praise from local media as well as The AV Club and Pitchfork. Darl actually met the Speedy Ortiz band members when they opened for his previous band, Day Sleeper at Wesleyan, where he went to school as a film major. As far as influences go, he recently mentioned Helium, Polvo, Unwound and Nirvana. And, despite the recent critical praise for the band, Ferm still likes being close to the audience. How can you not love a guy who recently said, “…the higher up on stage you are, the less connection you’re probably going to have with the audience.” Be sure to pick up the band’s debut album, Major Arcana and check the check the Speedy Ortiz Facebook info page for the latest tour info.