By Jay Mukherjee
I first became aware of Film School when my buddy Stan turned me on to the song "Heart Full of Pentagons" from their 2010 album Fission. Ever since then I have been a huge fan of these San Francisco shoegaze veterans. What sets them apart from other bands are their big melodic pop hooks, and their ability to avoid any same-ness in sound and mood that tends to pigeonhole other bands in this genre.
They have returned with a brand new album, We Weren't Here where they continue to find inspiration from some of the underappreciated greats, or at least where I hear the sounds of my favorite underappreciated greats!
The album's first song, Superfection", begins with a slow build reminiscent of The Stones Roses' "I Wanna be Adored", before settling into a driving beat. The song reminds me of the underrated English shoegaze band Engineers. The rest of the album covers varied styles with highlights including the ethereal shoegaze of "Said Your Name" and "Stratospheric Tendencies", as well as the instrumental ("CPPT"), which reminds me of the Boards of Canada, along with the gorgeous first single "Isla".
Setting this album apart from their other albums are some Krautrock-inspired songs like "The More I Know" (which seems to pay homage to Joy Division or early New Order without being as dark), and the meditative "Drone 2" (which really reminds me of Amp or Bowery Electric). The apex of the album, however, is the soaring "Soft Reflections" which sounds like a mysterious and unlikely mashup of lo-fi electronic artists like Tex La Homa, Babybird, and Maps, and New Gold Dream-era Simple Minds. I even hear some Shriekback in there. Sounds crazy, but it works! Further, when Greg Bertens sings, "There's just a way you see the people talking / There's just a way you hear the sun setting / The only note you know you're already holding / The way you shut your eyes without me knowing" I can't help but think that I am listening to the great Guy Chadwick of seminal Eighties shoegaze band The House of Love. Just fantastic stuff! The album closes with another standout song, "Take What You Need" featuring vocals by Noel Brydebell of Wild Signals (she also sings on "Superfection" and "Said Your Name"). While this song is upbeat in terms of melody and rhythm, it is undercut by the melancholy and wistful lyrics of somebody living in an unbalanced relationship between a giver and a taker, where the giver finally gives up. "Take what you need from me / Just let me know, let me know / Say what you need to say / Just let it go, let it go" are the lyrics.
While the majority of this album finds Film School with a more subdued and textured sound, the album is a worthy successor to the 2018's epic Bright to Death [reviewed by kenixfan here].
We Weren't Here is out now.
More details on Film School via the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Film School Bandcamp]