The Rungs

On paper, The Rungs are possibly the coolest prospect out there - a male and female duo from Brooklyn playing synth guitar pop. This ticks two of the biggest cool boxes going at the moment (and by cool box I don't mean something to take to a picnic to keep your food fresh). This new single by Mandy and Diwas, as their friends call them, is the marvellously titled 'Confluence of Anomalies' and by God is it gorgeous!?!? Sure, we're talking lo-fi with an element of shoe gaze in the vocal delivery but the throbbing synth bass line along with the Orientally influenced melodies make this an instantly appealing prospect. Think Dubstar, St Etienne and a more relaxed Bis (i.e. after the sugar come down) all produced by Beck and E from Eels, if you will, and you'll be getting close to the truth of The Rungs. The gorgeous truth. - Listen with Monger

We’ve fallen for Brooklyn duo The Rungs before, and here they are aka Mandy and Diwas Guring, doing their synth pop thing again and making us fall for them for a second time with their new single BFF.

It opens immediately spewing these sugar coated synth riffs out everywhere before your very ears, only stripping things back to allow Mandy to lend her similarly saccharine pipes to a tale of, well, unsurprisingly – Best Friends and the like. Butting in between the lines though are these immediate and insistent little melodic fragments, bearing down on you and softening you up so its easy pickings for this kind of rather lovely melody to strip away any resistance you might have had.

Yeah, we loved it. Damn you The Rungs, how did that happen again? - Backseat Mafia

It’s always great to come across music where I can hear and feel the love an artist puts into making it. Sometimes I can sense it between catchy beats, through powerfully pleasing vocals or even underneath a few cookie cutter melodies record companies like to promote to the masses. But the best times usually happen by surprise. When I unknowingly crack a little smile after absorbing it across music that mold different sounds and unusual textures into songs with a unique familiarity I have never quite experienced before. That’s where husband and wife duo THE RUNGS (Mandy & Diwas Gurung) come in with their carefully crafted self titled new EP. After months of skillfully creating, tinkering and mastering, the musical pair based out of Ithaca NY have dropped a fantastic short collection of songs that jump right out at me in a completely different and entertaining way. Leaving me intrigued and pining for more.

“In The Room” is the standout moment and is by far the most polished song on a short EP I wish had a few more tracks to really sink my teeth into. I love how this song subtly combines the playful, circus-like vibe of “Confluence of Anomalies” with the heavy 80′s electro-pop essence of Missed Connections” producing a sound that is both quirky and interesting. And unconventionally fun to listen to too. The soothing soft tone of the lead vocals draws me in just like how a cobra might be drawn out from a woven basket by the sounds of a hypnotic flute. Slowly but surely “In The Room” dances in the same space for a bit, only to explode into a gorgeous instrumental breakdown full of energetic synth loops, frenetic guitar strums and timely bell clanks. “In The Room” showcases THE RUNGS as artists and point towards a style of music they have the potential to make. A promising attainment that’s well within their reach! Buy the EP here! - Through My Headphones

We are excited to bring you the official premiere of “Whispers,” a new single by Brooklyn-based synth pop duo The Rungs. It’s a catchy, upbeat jam that will have you drumming your fingers along the minute you hear it.

“Whispers” is a delightful fusion of vocal harmonization and electric guitars over a pulsing synth beat. It starts off with lead singer Mandy Gurung singing “whisper, whisper in my ear, tell me all the things you want me to hear,” in a delicate, whisper-like tone, just as the song’s title implies. As the song progresses, the backing synth beat builds and her bandmate/husband, Diwas Gurung joins in, the guitars growing louder, with Mandy proclaiming, “I’m not that innocent, I’ve got a little bit of secrets to tell you.”

These two harmonize nicely here, creating a pleasing track reminiscent of 80s synth jams. It’s quite enjoyable and is sure to bring back those seemingly distant memories of driving to the beach in the summertime. - Pancakes And Whiskey