This kind of music has been done before. But that's sort of the fun, isn't it? When a new shoegaze act shows up, you listen for the kind of fuzzy hooks that sent a chill up your spine from others, and hopefully you are rewarded in a similar, familiar fashion.
Ontario's Bloom Effect do this sort of thing very well on their new record. oscilón, out now, is full of the sort of blurry riffs that made the first wave of shoegaze bands so loved. Opener "luna" churns like something from Tremelo-era MBV, while "hide" coasts around vocalist Jula Lafit's instrument. Her voice is something special, and this Argentina-born singer sometimes sings in Spanish. That gives the tunes of Bloom Effect something which sets them apart from others in the genre.
On the modestly lumbering "surreal" the three-piece carve out a distinct space in their field. The tune does echo Alvvays and The Sundays as the press kit promised, but it still stands on its own. Bloom Effect keep things light enough that this stuff never feels slavishly beholden to past heavyweights like Chapterhouse, Ride, or Swervedriver, even while it's safe to say that there are enough whirling riffs here to please any fan of any of those bands. This new record is charming enough to make me a fan of this trio, and make me eager to hear even more from this outfit as soon as I can.
oscilón by Bloom Effect is out now. Details below.
[Photo: Alex Woodburn]