Aussie indie-pop quartet San Cisco’s (guitarist/vocalist Jordi Davieson, drummer/vocalist Scarlett Stevens, drummer Josh Biondillo and bassist Steve Schramm, currently filling in for an injured Nick Gardner) latest single “The Distance” will probably bring “Awkward”, the band’s 2012 teen stalker hit (and best-known single) to mind. The endearing sing-along boy-girl dialogue between Davieson and Stevens is gone, leaving the former to ponder the problem of emotional disconnection within a romantic relationship on his own in a more subdued and mature fashion: ‘If I changed for you/ Then would you change too?/ This is the distance between you and me’.
This may sound foreboding, but the song’s MGMT-esque production makes it clear that Davieson is more preoccupied with the energizing promises of intimacy, rather than being crippled by the psychological hurdles that stand in the way: ‘I would risk all the rejection/ For a shot at some affection from you’. The sparkly synths and psychedelic rock instrumentation stop short of bursting out into overt sonic ecstasy, tantalizing listeners with the sense that blissful hedonism lies just around the corner. “The Distance” is bubbly, beachy, catchy and perfectly enjoyable, even if one also senses that the ‘connection’ it longs for may not be particularly profound or unusual.
