L.A. band Iress make what some have called doom wave or doom gaze. I guess that gives you an idea of the charms here, and one couldn't very well imagine this being a suitable record for a summer drive, you know? But there are still things to recommend about Flaw, the group's newest release which dropped yesterday.
"Shamed" builds and swells with impressive force, but "Nest" is more enticing. Michelle Malley's vocals anchor this, as they do others here on Flaw, and give these tunes a surprisng warmth at times. Elsewhere, "Dark Love" is built around a plaintive acoustic guitar-line, while "Thieves" surges and roars with real power. Iress don't exhibit a great deal of variety between the tunes, but they're quite good at doing this kind of thing. For the right audience, this record should really strike a nerve, and reassure even casual fans that this sort of thing can be done in the 21st century as it was in the Nineties and early Aughts.
Flaw is out now.
More details on Iress via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Iress Facebook page]