A Brief History Of Love

Swirly, fuzzy, guitar-centered psych pop with Madchester vocals. As if the Oasis boys said, “One more time, with feedback!” At times, sounds quite like the new Phoenix record (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix), but takes a lot of cues from Brit shoegazers of yore. If you dug the Horrors (A-File), give this a try. It’s a bit (Brit)poppier, and with heavy guitar rock choruses, but all the original elements are there. Electro backdrop added in, but I’d still call this psych/shoegaze. This album makes me want to lid my eyes a little. Or headbang in a slow circle. Great shit, people.

no FCCs
try: 3, 6, 10, 5, 2

1. takes a minute to warm up. heavy, but slow, deliberate. thick guitar. pretty descending “oh”s. very my bloody valentine. ramps up in the last minute. early fade.
*2. midtempo. high-pitched distortion, electroclashy drums, repetitive trancey synth/rhythm loop. blur would be proud.
*3. the single, and a great one. anthemic brit vocals over draggy tight drumkit + synth. heavy, catchy, spirally chorus: “these girls fall like dominos”.
4. starts with high popcorn keys & tambourine. slow, odd-effect keys and clear (ie, not fuzzed) vocals. very straight-ahead indie. uncharacteristic for the record.
*5. faster, jangly guitar & clappy drums (cough stone roses). high fuzzy keys. heavy psych rock chorus. ends with onslaught of feedback.
*6. mid/slow. heavy electro intro. laid back, sweet vocals with backing harmonies and warm synth. heavy, distorted, rock-a-swirl chorus takes over the track. feel the shoegaze!
7. siren electro. heavy all around. drony melodies, feedbacky chorus. sounds like phoenix.
8. dark electro, bitter vocals, suedey “oh” harmonies, sharp drums. sounds like... placebo, actually. damn, this track has attitude.
9. cartoony/tv intro. then: chimey, jangly guitar & bare drums. later: hi-hat and computer noise. slow, deliberate. male/female duet.
*10. beepy electro backdrop a la “safety dance”. an upbeat, happy dance track with a loud, layered, heavy chorus. could be suede. fade a few seconds early.
11. starts loud/distorted, segues into hangman drums + tambourine + pretty “ooh”s. whiny emo core electric. a downtempo, draggy builder.