I rarely get too exited about the current generation of shoegaze-related groups, who for the most part seem perfectly content with just creating a pleasant soundscape to fall asleep to and soon forget about. This Paris group, however, does not only have the sonics, but also the drive and the hooks to make it stick, finding kind of a workable middle ground between the obvious golden-era Shoegaze acts (especially a strong Bailter Space vibe going on here), some early Sarah Records pop and more recent noise pop examples of the Gold Bears, Seablite or Flyying Colours variety.
Didn't expect this to happen… A whopping seven years after his last EP, Oakland's Jason Hendardy aka Permanent Collection is reactivating his old musical endeavor and delivers a brilliant new album which - in spite of its rather fatalistic sounding title - dials back the sonic doom and gloom of his previous efforts, the dark post punk tone taking the back seat while the melodic noise pop & shoegaze aspects take center stage - a consistantly fun high energy ride from start to finish. If you ever wished acts like A Place To Bury Strangers or Ceremony (VA) woud spend less time less time spacing out and cut straight to the chase instead, this record ist for you.
Another lovely treat from Austin label Digital Hotdogs. The rather quirky kind, rough around the edges and full of sweetness inside, strange and familiar at the same time. Just like you've probably come to expect of anything released by this outlet. There's barely any info on the actual band in question. I found two bands of this name listed on bandcamp, but i don't think we're dealing with either of those here. What we get instead is a sheer wealth of catchy as fuck tunes wrapped into dreamy, yet powerful soundscapes somewhere in the realm of post punk, noise pop, shoegaze and 90s Indie Rock, somewhat reminiscent of the early Lo-Fi adventures by Eric's Trip, Guided By Voices, Flying Saucer Attack, maybe even a bit of Sebadoh. Or you may choose to draw comparisons to more contemporary acts in the vein of The Molds, Treehouse, Pardoner, Rat Columns or Teardrop Factory. Whatever your viewpoint on this, you've got impeccable taste, sir. You are made for this record.
Last year's long playing debut by Seattle group Big Bite already struck me as an anomaly of the most welcome kind. Now their sophomore effort comes across as no less brilliant - once again breathing new life into a particular 90s niche, oscillating somewhere between straightforward, no-fuss but high-thrust indie- and alternative rock plus a bit of shoegaze. Think Sugar, Polvo or Swervedriver when it comes to bands of the aforementioned era, or of more recent acts like early Ovlov, Pardoner, Milked or Dead Soft. Psychedelic moments are given a bit more emphasis here than on their first, while in the album's final stretch you can sense a subtle post punk vibe of the Teenanger or Constant Mongrel variety.
