Russian Baths first appeared on the alternative music scene back in 2016 with a two track release pairing their shoegaze anthem ‘Ambulance’ with the slightly more melodic indie/goth workout ‘Ghost’. It was immediately clear that the Brooklyn based duo were well versed in some great retro sounds, since the tracks conveyed a massive love for Jesus & Mary Chain, as well as slightly more melodic 4AD fare like Cranes and Slowdive. They were the kind of band that older indie fans could take to heart with immediate effect, but although their sounds drew strong links with a shoegaze past, they also seemed like a band who – much like A Place To Bury Strangers – would be able to take such heavily distorted drones seem wholly relevant in the present.
Tag Archives: shoegaze
BLACKLAB – In A Bizarre Dream
Blacklab’s debut album ‘Under The Strawberry Moons’ was – and remains – a brilliantly intense listen. By taking classic stoner and doom riffs and layering them with distortion, the noise making duo hit upon a sound that fused elements of Acid King and Boris with the ugly sonic textures of Melvins. By then layering that with extra distortion and adding a semi-detached, distinctly Japanese vocal, the album became bigger than the sum of its parts; a sludgy yet strangely alluring listen that really raised the bar for massive, dark – and sometimes ugly – riffs.
Their follow up, 2020’s ‘Abyss’, flaunted a slightly different guitar tone in places, but didn’t skim on the intensity. In toning down the bass in more than a few places, it actually made Blacklab seem even more uncompromising as they continued to wheel out their massive slabs of distortion. Also by cranking the speed in a couple of places (as with ‘Forked Road’, one of the record’s stand out tracks), it showed the band as being capable of tackling some seriously intense garage punk, which provided a superb counterpart to their doom laden core.
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS – Hologram EP
Following the release of the live ‘Fuzz Club Session’, things seemed to go a little quiet for A Place To Bury Strangers, at least in terms of press coverage, but the band carried on making underground sounds. The self-released ‘Ice Cream’ 7” continued their onslaught on the shoegaze scene, and even a drastic line-up change at the beginning of 2021 couldn’t suppress their commitment to being “New York’s loudest band”.
New video from Nightspell now online
Following their debut single ‘Sea of Thieves’ Boston’s Nightspell have returned with a great new track ‘Pegasus’. Going even deeper into the band’s world of swirling, dark riffs, the track is a perfect throwback to the sounds of 90s shoegaze.
A Place To Bury Strangers return with new single and video
It’s been three years since A Place To Bury Strangers released new studio material, but everyone’s favourite New York noisemakers return in July with a brand new EP release, ‘Hologram’.
As part of the early promotion for their long overdue return, they’ve shared the lead single ‘End of The Night’, along with an accompanying video.