“Kris Is
Riding Horses In Ojai” sits within a 11-track set
recorded between 2024 and 2025 at Retromedia Sound Studios in New Jersey
with engineer Adam Vaccarelli. Core members Sean Greene, Chris Leo,
Brian Maryansky, and Neil O’Brien are joined throughout by a handful of
guests: Liam Bornowski contributes pedal steel, MJ Hancock adds
saxophone synth, while Sarah Schimeneck sings and Alicia Testa plays
piano. The expanded instrumental lineup pushes the band’s quintessential sound into subtly unfamiliar shapes without losing the murky, literate
tension that has always defined them.
The
NYU-founded group first emerged in the mid-1990s, releasing a pair
of well-regarded records inspired by Slint and Television via the NJ indie label Gern Blandsten Records before disbanding. They resurfaced quietly in
the 2010s and returned with Artisans & Merchants in 2023, their first album in over two decades. Remain Obscure
deepens that reactivated chemistry across a tracklist that evokes a collection of short stories: “Linens Should Be Freshly Pressed”,
“City of Dead Ends”, and “Death by a Solid Argument” all suggest the wry,
observational MO that has run through Leo’s writing since his
earlier post-hardcore band Native Nod.
The
record lands on Wrong Speed Records, the UK
label run by former Comet Gain and Hey Colossus members. Details on
physical formats are still emerging, though a vinyl pre-order is live
now.
Remain Obscure tracklist
“Kris Is Riding Horses In Ojai”
“Linens Should Be Freshly Pressed”
“Arid As The Aral”
“City of Dead Ends”
“Rally Song For Marianne”
“Frank’s Jukebox”
“Flaws of Attraction”
“A Voralberg Of The Mind”
“Martha Graham & The Moon”
“Lawrence, KS”
“Death by a Solid Argument”
