Hand Gestures: Justin's Funeral

Brooklyn based musician Brian Russ looks back at the death of one of his classmates when he was in his teens on the new single by his psych pop band Hand Gestures. Around that time he got his first guitar, so Justin's Funeral is also serves as a bittersweet memory that helped him to take the first steps of becoming a musician.

A quote from one of the pallbearers keeps the song together: "ten guys on one casket and the thing // feels pretty light // hey I guess Justin gets to crowd surf // for one more night".

Hand Gestures: Once It Starts to Kick In

Brooklyn musician Brian Russ started jangling indie pop quintet in 2022, to have an outlet for this thoughts about getting older - he is in his 40s - and trying to it make as a performing artist for 20 years. Lucky for him that he is also the owner of niche label Campers' Rule Records, so sending out physical proof of the band's endeavours into the world was secured.

The self-titled album came together in fits and starts, but the single Once It Starts to Kick In sounds like it was laid down pretty damn quickly. It is a spontaneous yet intricate exercise of guitar driven psych pop, a reality check wrapped in a quilt of gently shifting instrumentation.