Philadelphia has quite a collection of young shoegaze bands, and I admire how experimental some of them get. Until I heard They Are Gutting a Body of Water, for instance, I never knew that shoegaze’s amniotic bath of electric guitar could make room for the speed-freak percussion of breakcore. That’s not to say I don’t also appreciate it when one of these adventurous groups goes for a more classic sound, though. Philly band Bleary Eyed have smoothed out some of the odd angles on their 2021 album Guise (glitchy song structures, martial percussion, squealing synth breakdowns) en route to re-emerging with their next full-length, the new Easy. They still use electronic or programmed elements extensively, but this time they provide building blocks within a traditional shoegaze aesthetic. Lead track “Susan” glistens with slow-motion whammy-bar swoops, and bustling looped drums shape its radiant haze of noise like a corset. You can hear aspects of trip-hop and 80s UK goth music, but Bleary Eyed use them as though they’ve always been part of shoegaze and might always be. Future generations could do a lot worse than to look back on Easy to help define shoegaze in its next incarnation.
Bleary Eyed Daundry and Yours, Mookie open. Fri 8/29, 8 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $20.25, 18+
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