Toronto’s Shallow Waves come at the world with a noisy, yet delicately-arranged echo of psyched-out shoegaze. Their sonic vocabulary is part surf rock ocean of reverb and part garage psych, with a fuzzed out bass in strong command throughout this 4 minute track. 

Guitars screech deep in a mix of vocal melody with choir-like synth chords leading each word of the lyrics like a haunted Velvet Underground. The drums keep infectious grooves and act as exclamation points instead of typical tempo keepers, as they shift from rock kit pounding to military march meter. Dust seems unrelenting in its buildup and knockdown with this wall of sound. What’s even more special is the progressively experimental sound not only in their choice of studio effects but also in their garage-like songwriting, as seen in the chorus “Mountains rust/ it’s all dust!”

Listen to it below.

-Miles Rinehart

Photo by Stefan Dina (@idontdoweddings)