iji – “Hard 2 Wait” (Stereogum Premiere)

iji – “Hard 2 Wait” (Stereogum Premiere)

iji have been making delightful pop pastiche out of their rainy Seattle home base for almost a decade. With enough releases that you’d need three hands to count them all, the band has a polished way about them. On their latest album, Whatever Will Happen, iji blends soulful beach rock with scrappy K Records-style twee, and pick and choose little details from dozens of genres in between. “It’s hard to wait for good love,” ringleader Zach Burba admits on “Hard 2 Wait,” the first single from the recrd. It’s a breezy track that could be described as effortless if it wasn’t so apparently clear that the band has such a good handle on what they’re doing after all these years. The disco swirls in the background, the lilting jazz-inspired riffs, the light piano mood-setters — all of these add up to a track that’s pretty genius in its own right. Listen below.

Tour Dates:
04/24 Portland, OR @ Cherry Sprout Produce
05/02 Seattle, WA @ The Monkey Pub
05/06 Seattle, WA @ The Sunset
05/29 Missoula, MT @ Camp Daze Festival
05/30 Seattle, WA @ The Cockpit
06/12 Seattle, WA @ The Black Lodge
06/13 Portland, OR @ S1 Gallery
06/17 Santa Cruz, CA @ Subrosa
06/19 Los Angeles, CA @ Pehrspace
06/21 Phoenix, AZ @ The Trunkspace
06/24 Santa Barbara, CA @ Fun Zone
06/25 San Francisco, CA @ Fortress Callosum

Whatever Will Happen is out 6/2 via Team Love Records.

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