Split between Hull and Leeds, British five-piece ‘ugly poppers’ bdrmm are rightly deemed one the most promising band of the alternative rock panorama following last year acclaimed debut EP “If Not, When?”, pulling seamlessly from varying influences spanning from Slowdive-flavoured shoegaze haze and Sarah Records-alike melancholic, jangling and nebulous dream-pop to tense, tightly-wound The Cure-inflected post-punk.
Just to the latter belongs the brand new single “Happy”, one of the earliest songs the band composed and the first preview from bdrmm‘s forthcoming first album, to be released later this year on Sonic Cathedral.
Melody-carrying sinuously meandering deep bassline pulse constantly backed by tersely precise agile drums, soon intertwining with gently but menacingly clear, slightly nagging, guitar melodies needle, jangle and whirl, building into an intricate, majestically enveloping lush web of built-up tension that soars and releases over monochromatically subdued sad, nervous male vocals, steeped in detached reverb, to elicit comfort and respect amidst the end of a romance, “I hope you are happy because I’m happy.”
The quintet deftly approach the acid test of their debut full-length with an intriguing embracing reverb-infused spiral of needling guitar lines, permeated with subtle contrasts between light and shadow, coldness and warmth in an unpassionate interplay with disharmonious vocals and lyrics, but from a band that has accustomed us to vary effortlessly rhythms and atmospheres track by track, let’s expect many further delightful surprises.
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