WL//WH Weekly Shoegaze / Dreampop / Psychedelic / Indie Tips

• Late ’90s formed UK indie pop /synthpop band led by Huw Bucknell, The Spanish Amanda “Cats In Uniform” from “Let Them Eat Art!” EP                                                                                                                       

Established in 1998, the English Indie-Pop group The Spanish Amanda, the brainchild of Huw Bucknell, got noticed, in some way even here in Italy thanks to a couple of precious blogs, at the very beginning of the 2000s for a debut album via the German label Firestation Tower, with clear nods to the mid-80s UK New Wave/Guitar Pop/C86 and 90s Indie-Pop, that combined dancing New Order-style synthpop and Smiths-y jangly guitar tones coloured with lyrics rich of dark witty storytelling. Back on track in 2018 after about 15 years of hiatus, the band, which now operates as a trio, has just released a new EP as always with some noteworthy nostalgic, at times semi-acoustic, indie-pop tunes. The drum box leads the steady hypnotic pace of “Cats In Uniform” along with warm round bass pulsations, amid anxious effect-laden guitar flourishes and swishing keyboards, whilst cheeky, dramatic surreal vocal drama blends nervous declarations with breathless female backup whispers, to spoof the past cultural phenomenon of newspaper dating.

• Japanese shoegaze /indie /noise rock band from Kyoto, ODDLY “Alligator” single from upcoming debut LP on Damnably
  

Kyoto‘s odd noise rockers’ new single fuses the incessant dynamic rumbling drive of the rhythms section with restless, and edgy guitar work a la Sonic Youth to screech, squeal and growl with outbursts of chaotic feedback glory over evocative male/female vocal delivery alternating aloof sass with caustic grungey screams, and numb repetitions to epitomise a dystopic lifestyle of oppression and dread.

• French shoegaze /indie rock trio Subzero Fun “Lock Groove” from V/A “Rave Down Tracks – Volume 1” compilation on new Parisian label Rave Down
  

The birth of a new DIY record label is in itself always a good thing, if it then inaugurates its foundation with the first volume of a compilation full for more than half of unreleased quality tracks, makes it all even more intriguing. Paris-based Swevedriver-inspired imprint Rave Down collects seven talented bands from the French Shoegaze scene, spanning from the only one not French, South-Korean Syupeo Jenjang‘s driving whirling noisy energy, the skyscraping cliffs of the hyper-prolific soloist Jōetsu Shore, to the cosmic-tinged shimmering seamless blend of loud and quiet of Subzero Fun, intersecting ‘Echo Delay and Reverb’ with the reflective post-rock suggestions of Jen and the seemingly new band Lendl, the latter with dark nuances, the ambient/electronic elements of NGC2020, and So Many Lines‘ melodic psychedelic introspection. Highly recommended!