There is a very specific kind of summer emo song that wants a hot room, or a solid car trip. Both work fine for this kind of vibe. Car Underwater are working right in the lane of our yesterday’s discovery, 3 Dollars, on “Heaven In Hindsight,” and their new live visual puts the track where it probably makes the most sense: on a stage, filmed in Los Angeles.
The LA-based band are new, but the names around it are not exactly random. Car Underwater bring together vocalist Max Epstein (Photographic Memory, Wisp, Jane Remover), guitarist Sonny Foster, drummer Zach Capitti-Fenton (Photographic Memory, Wisp), bassist Nolan Nunes (Ghostmane), and Australian producer, keyboardist, and vocalist Darcy Baylis (Ninajirachi, daine, After).

Their debut EP, “Dagger Breaks Window,” pulls openly from that mid-2000s emotional charge: From First To Last, Underoath, Thursday, the whole era where choruses got huge and the breakdowns still had eyeliner on them. The EP moves fast, throws a lot into the arrangements, and keeps the digital-era weirdness close enough to stop it becoming straight revival cosplay.
“Heaven In Hindsight” comes with both an official video and now this new live visual, and it is the kind of track where the cleaner hooks and screamed edges are trying to share the same cramped room. It has the sugar rush, but also the little dents and panic that made this style stick in the first place.
The band are also taking it straight into a busy UK and EU week. They play London’s Barfly, formerly Camden Assembly, tonight, July 7, marking their first EU performance, followed by The Croft in Bristol on July 8 and Boom in Leeds on July 9.
After that, Car Underwater join Bring Me The Horizon at Manchester’s B.E.C. Arena on July 10 and 11, for the live premiere run around “Count Your Blessings,” with Static Dress, Dying Wish, Rolo Tomassi, Heriot, Still In Love, and Showing Teeth also on the bill. The run closes at Creepy Teepee Festival in Prague on July 12.
Live dates:
7/7 – The Barfly, formerly Camden Assembly – London, UK
7/8 – The Croft – Bristol, UK
7/9 – Boom – Leeds, UK
7/10 – B.E.C. Arena – Manchester, UK, with Bring Me The Horizon, Static Dress, Dying Wish, Rolo Tomassi, Heriot, Still In Love, and Showing Teeth
7/11 – B.E.C. Arena – Manchester, UK, with Bring Me The Horizon, Static Dress, Dying Wish, Rolo Tomassi, Heriot, Still In Love, and Showing Teeth
7/12 – Creepy Teepee Festival – Prague, CZ
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