Big Stir Records brings you the second single – and a brand new video – from CROSSWORD SMILES and their hit debut album PRESSED & IRONED (out now on vinyl LP, CD and streaming everywhere). “The Girl With A Penchant For Yellow ” is out this Friday, October 7, up for pre-order now at bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com and streaming everywhere on the street date. The new duo of Michigan guitar-pop veterans CHIP SAAM and TOM CURLESS display the love of quirky pop songcraft and vintage college rock sounds that fuels the project and the album, but create something entirely new in this engagingly short, sweet, and super-hummable character sketch. The track amply demonstrates why CROSSWORD SMILES is a revelation even for a pair with a rich pop rock history.

The economy of sound and language on “Girl” would be breathtaking if it weren't so effortlessly natural. In less than two and a half minutes and no more than 13 lines, the story of a fraught relationship between Jen (the title character, who may have had enough) and Brad (who's set on picking a fight) unfolds. The couple comes vividly and a bit mysteriously alive in a musical setting that just might bring to mind The Go-Betweens, but still has time for a blazing guitar solo and some vocoder-drenched call-and-response asides.

“We recorded this one at Earth Studio with Greg Addington and John Lowry, two great friends from The Hangabouts,” says Saam. “Their studio is full of odd gadgets and freaky instruments. You could see the gleam in their eyes when we said we were open to trying some different sounds on this track.” The video, directed by Madeline Curless, is cut from the same cloth as the timelessly retro clip for the band's debut single “Parallel Lines”. It's Super-8-grainy and finds Curless and Saam performing the tune in silhouette – evoking a slightly shoegazer aesthetic – and fully lit in matching outfits that bespeak peak-era new wave. Augmented by animated images and text in – naturally – bright yellow, the clip mirrors PRESSED & IRONED's much-lauded mixture of evocative imagery and playful humor.

Since the album's release, tracks including “Girl” have been all over the international pop-rock airwaves, and CROSSWORD SMILES has been hailed as “the best lost 1980s band the new millennium has to offer” by POPROCK RECORD. The new single demonstrates that it's a deep stack of tracks inviting multiple listens. “You’ll want to set your player on repeat for this album,” critic Dennis Pilon enthused, and “The Girl With A Penchant For Yellow” is just one of ten reasons why. Get it in the format of your choice at:

orcd.co/crosswordsmiles