First – I’m not a big fan of the name. I love Shoredive Records though so I’m going to let that slide. The music though, fucking great. It’s almost like big rock anthem but in the vein of Elastica or The Sundays. At moments it’s almost like if Belly was more of a garage rock grunge type band. The vocals make this record as the shoegaze buzz fills the background up with lively anthemic rhythms and simplistic chord structures. The vibe on every track differs enough to keep it interesting and you can hear 30 years of brit rock thrown in a blender to create the template for this band. Man, it’s at this point I really wish they just had a different name, because aside from that I can’t say one negative thing. The vocals do remain quite washed out with reverb and delay throughout but I think that’s the charm and what makes every song sound so gigantic like you’re hearing it live at a stadium. The vocals are just so good and so in line with everything that is going on in indie rock from Phoebe Bridgers to Soccer Mommy but it’s like the backing band are Peter Hook, Bernard Summer, Andy Anderson and Kevin Shields. You can hear this mix of all of that from The Cure, My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division but with this modern vocal and production. This is a great record from beginning to end. My one and only criticism is because a few tracks have a similar vibe and feel, 10 tracks would suffice.
- Sam Lowry