The minute beloved Brooklyn haunt The Glove shuttered its doors last September, an immense void was left in the heart of our weirdo underground, so much so that people saying, “RIP DIY.” And now, sitting in quarantine, with only the memory, the shadow, of live music and truly free expression, its absence cuts more deeply, and weighs more heavily, than ever. Luckily, the vestiges of The Glove’s soul live on in the countless artists who performed and showed there, perhaps most notably in Time Stalkers, the nine-piece pop orchestra, led by Will Moloney (aka Old Table), and featuring members of Sweet Baby Jesus, Thanks For Coming, Eyes Of Love, The Cradle, Financial Collapse, Shimmer, Dog, Sloppy Jane, and so many more acts who called The Glove home. “I view this band as a serendipitous gift that formed because of mutual friendship and love of music, with each member complementing each other and enhancing the whole,” Moloney notes, as they ready their debut, Self-Titled album, due out June 5 via Gentle Reminder (cassette), and Feeding Tube (vinyl).
Time Stalkers’ new single, “Plastic Flowers,” is but a taste of the eccentric, yet wholly heartfelt and nuanced musicianship of the album as a whole. A flutter of percussion opens the track, with guitar and bass whispering their mimicry of the establishing pulse of everything. Saxophone and violin create enter with a fanfare so light on its feet, it makes to lift the dismal veil under which 2020 has found itself. True sun! True friendship! Subtleties abound—blink and you’ll miss that xylophone part; or that bongo drum! or that mandolin! Moloney’s vocal delivery is earnest and emphatic, piercing through the brilliant chatter of the instruments. “Burn toast, take off coats, we laugh like goats, we live like kings,” rings the final recitative. It’s too human for this current state, and, as such, a gorgeous reminder of what was and what will be again, in time. It’s funny, I usually hate nostalgia in most forms. “Remember when is the lowest form of conversation.” But this song doesn’t so much make me miss The Glove and all its cohorts, as it does take me back there, to when things were good. Thanks for that.