Album Reviews
-by Nathaniel FitzGerald
By now, there's nothing revolutionary about pairing slow tempos and gentle vocals with huge walls of crushing guitar noise. Loveless came out twenty-seven years ago, and has spawned massive waves of followers. But still, there are a few bands that manage to cut through the crowds of the copycats and wannabes with music that takes cues from the shoegaze tropes will still sounding fresh.
Belgium's Slow Crush is one of those bands. The guitars alternate from gritty fuzz to molten reverb creating a thick atmosphere. The drums switch tempos on a dime, going from breakneck rock and roll to plodding doom in the course of a few bars. And over the dense, heavy haze is Isa Holliday's soaring alto—which is naturally coated in echo.
There's nothing new here. Melding crushing heaviness with light ambience has been the M.O. of just about every shoegaze band ever. But to be honest, shoegaze fans don't really want anything new. I certainly don't. They just want it to be done well. And Slow Crush certainly does that. Aurora is a fine entry in the shoegaze revival. And while it might not necessarily appeal to anyone who's not already into that thing, it's sure to keep the purists happy.
Track listing:
- Glow
- Drift
- Tremble
- Shallow Breath
- Aid and Abet
- Collide
- Beached
- Aurora
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
