RVATRACK Drops Illiterate Light’s ‘Better Than I Used To’

by | Jun 1, 2018 | MUSIC

Update: RVATRACK announced the studio recording release of “Better Than I Used To,” available now on Spotify.

RVATRACK is back again with a video this month for our eyes, ears, and souls. The local film collective recently premiered a live music video for Illiterate Light’s “Better Than I Used To.” Only coming together in 2015, the Harrisonburg alt-psych duo has built up quite the name for themselves with their energetic live shows, touring up and down the East Coast, and three solid EPs under their belts showcasing gritty guitar sounds from Jeff Gorman and smooth, hazy vocals from drummer/vocalist Jake Cochran.

Their most recent EP, Ego Flora I, came out last August, but the track “Better Than I Used To” doesn’t appear on that, or any of the older records. It’s a song Gorman said the band has been sitting on for quite some time.

“‘Better Than I Used To came about in early 2016 but sat on the back burner for 12 to 18 months because we were touring a lot and didn’t have time to work on new material,” he said. Gorman added they’ve been toiling away with Adrian Olsen and Charlie Glenn over at Montrose Studios for the past six months on a new album, slated to come out later this year, hopefully with this track featured.

All the usual suspects were involved with making the video for “Better Than I Used To” including Scott Lane, Daniel Bagbey, and Gabrielle Silvers. And although the duo’s hometown is in Harrisonburg, Gorman said they were stoked to get to work with the local collective to premiere this single.

“We’re really happy to debut this song with RVATrack since so much of our music has been influenced by the Richmond scene,” he said.

Cover art courtesy Illiterate Light

You can catch Illiterate Light on June 22 at Strange Matter alongside Richmond’s Blush Face, ADDY, and jazzy group CGI Jesus. 8 PM Doors, 9 PM Showtime. $5 in advance and $7 at the door. In the meantime, let their sweet sounds ease you into this sunny weekend.

Photo By: Joey Wharton Photography

 

 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Amy David

Amy David

Amy David was the Web Editor for RVAMag.com from May 2015 until September 2018. She covered craft beer, food, music, art and more. She's been a journalist since 2010 and attended Radford University. She enjoys dogs, beer, tacos, and Bob's Burgers references.




more in music

He Produced Dolly Parton. But That’s Only Part of the Story.

Richmond-raised producer Steve Buckingham has spent more than five decades working with some of music’s biggest names. He talked with us about Dolly, Dionne, Sinéad, Clive Davis, Chet Atkins, James Brown, the record business and a life in music. Are you a legend if...

Iron Blossom is Part of a Bigger Richmond Music Story

Ahead of Iron Blossom, we talked with veteran promoter Ken Macdonald about the city’s changing live music ecosystem, from clubs to festivals and the Allianz Amphitheater. Richmond has always been a music town, but going back decades there were gaps in the local scene....

A First Look at the New Brown’s Island

Brown's Island has been closed since November 2025 for a $30 million improvement project, the largest renovation of the six-acre island in decades. It will temporarily reopen for the Richmond Folk Festival, October 9 - 11th, giving Richmonders their first chance to...

Richmond Loves Dolly Parton

I was gonna kill my husband in a cab in Peru, but “Islands in the Stream” came on the radio, and we stopped arguing and started singing. She could do that to you. You could totally be feeling some type of way, but if you put some Dolly Parton on, well, then you got a...

Night Idea Has Been Here the Whole Time.

Richmond has no shortage of bands that arrive and then disappear. Night Idea has taken the opposite approach. They’ve been around for 16 years, and keep getting better. I sat down with Joey Anderson, Reggie Pace and Reyna Pannell ahead of Night Idea’s appearance at...

You Can Kiss Off! 45 Years of Violent Femmes

You can always kiss off into the air. Behind my back, I can see them stare. They hurt me bad, and I don’t mind. They hurt me bad, they do it all the time! Yeah, yeah. You just sang that in your head, didn’t you? I believe it is impossible not to. There’s an alchemy, a...