It’s come to the point again that when a band is given the shoegaze tag, it makes your skin crawl. Even the unassuming pioneers of the genre detested the term. More often than not, a large percentage of bands that have that tag bestowed upon them are nothing but an indie band with a Fender Jaguar and reverb pedal. It’s boring, and it’s been saturated beyond belief.
Thankfully, the same can’t be said for Salt Lake City natives, No Sun. Yes, the components are there for being called a shoegaze band, but there’s more depth and structure to their music than just a simple genre descriptor. If you are looking for a band that are as close to My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Swervedriver without being a rip-off, then No Sun are the band to become invested in.
They may have a fondness for effects pedals, but it’s hard to imagine this accomplished band staring at their feet with the relentless wall of noise they create. No Sun have done their homework on the aforementioned bands, added a harder edge, and as predicted in an interview we conducted with them last year, they “kick you in the face, softly.”
‘If Only’ is a mind-bending trip from the start of the hazy guitar lines that open ‘Honey Chain’; the bursts and blooms from sullen verses, into cacophonous, fuzz-driven riffs. The Brit-pop homage of ‘Drown In You’ is No Sun at their most direct, and sits nicely alongside the dissonant, ear-splitting hail of feedback during ‘It’s Happening Again’.
Rather than bury the vocals so low in the mix they are barely audible, a common trait in bands in of this nature, No Sun allow the vocal melodies room to shine. The haunting passages that echo through the sullen ‘Leave Me Behind’ are clear and concise, even when the volume reaches breaking point underneath.
It’s not all a trip down memory lane to the grey skies of 90’s England for No Sun. The influence of Hum, Failure, and Smashing Pumpkins shines through on the glorious space rock of ‘Lunar Dream’. It adds a welcome bit of variety to ‘If Only’, while remaining a solid body of work.
‘If Only’ is the album that a fading genre needed more than ever. It doesn’t feel forced, it doesn’t sound pretentious, and if you didn’t know it was No Sun’s debut album, you would think they were a veteran band. Perhaps there’s still some life in shoegaze after all.
GLEN BUSHELL