Total Pleasure "Fear of Passing"

Los Angeles quartet Total Pleasure make their debut with Fear of Passing, a six-track EP that slips between the bright melodicism of the Dunedin Sound and the shadowy austerity of the 1980s Manchester underground. Rather than leaning into the sunlit jangle often associated with indie pop, the band tempers those instincts with a colder, more disciplined edge—guitars chime and collide over tight, motorik rhythms, while atmosphere hangs heavy in the spaces between notes.

Opening track “The Gates” sets the tone with interlocking guitars and a restless pulse that recalls the high-water marks of The Chills, though the band quickly bends that lineage toward darker territory. Across the EP, drummer Andrew Peña, guitarists Chris Medina and Brian Ramirez, and vocalist Jonathan Carias weave together the fuzzy immediacy of Black Tambourine with the stark rhythmic minimalism associated with early Joy Division. At the center is Carias’ baritone delivery—detached yet deeply felt—anchoring songs that move with equal parts urgency and restraint.

Singles “Dreadful Day” and “Still Life” reveal the EP’s emotional spectrum: jagged, urgent guitar stabs give way to reverb-soaked haze and a lingering, subterranean melancholy. Fear of Passing ultimately feels less like a debut and more like a carefully etched mood piece—melodic yet austere, immediate yet shadowed. Released May 15th, 2026 via à La Carte Records, the EP introduces Total Pleasure as a band carving their own path through the darker corners of modern guitar pop.