Local psych trio Spirit Award just freshly released their sophomore record Muted Crowd on October 19 via Union Zero. The record sees Daniel Lyon, Chris Moore, and Terence Ankeny blend indie and psych rock for a sprawling soundscape of jangly fuzz. Our Song of the Day, “Supreme Truth,” reflects this best with its hazy distortion and driving guitar riff. The lyrics point to something darker though.
"The idea for the song is based on the Japanese death cult, ‘Aum Shinrikyo,’ lead by Shoko Asahara, who basically recruited rich nerds to join his cult, and carry out the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995,” explains the band. “We got really fascinated by cults, institutions, and religions and how they recruit and keep followers. I think part of it is, we don’t see people in cults and religions as people. We put a label on them to separate them. Humans do this often. It’s really easy to get lost in something if that’s all you’re surrounded by."
Spirit Award is currently on tour behind Muted Crowd and will return to Seattle on Saturday, December 1 to play the Tractor Tavern with Pickwick. Watch the video for “Supreme Truth,” which depicts a cult and was directed by Casey Sjogren, and Spirit Award's recent KEXP in-studio below.
