Labels: Shelflife – Spinout Nuggets
Review by: MH
The number of members in this band has increased since their excellent debut LP – they’re now 7 – count ’em! Three of them were in Aberdeen in the 90s (the Sarah Records band, not the city in Scotland – although I can’t guarantee they didn’t visit Aberdeen around that time) and singer Beth Arzy, who shares most of the vocal duties with Betsy Moyer, is also currently in Jetstream Pony. They also live quite far apart and can class themselves as Transatlantic being based in London, LA and San Diego. I have enough trouble getting my brother on the phone a few times a year so I’m impressed they manage to produce significant output at such distance. I reviewed their debut album on here in 2014 and still give it the odd listen now and then. There are a couple of corkers on there – most notably “She Loves To Feel The Sun”. I’ve missed their 2017 album and a few singles since then but I’m getting re-acquainted with them here on album 3. It starts with the gentle and downbeat “I Never Want To Leave” and then things get moving with the jangly indie pop of “The Morning After” before early highlight “2:22”. This was a single and is driven and melancholy and all over in 2 minutes and 22 seconds. Like on their debut album they are still playing indie pop that edges into the poppier side of shoegaze – I should probably call that dream pop. It’s another highly enjoyable and accomplished record interspersed with some slower, more atmospheric tracks like “Elevator Silence” which delve a little further into shoegaze before closing with the measured and wistful “When All That We Hold On Decays”.