Boston has a lot of bands and artists doing a lot of wonderful things in 2019, but there seems to be a relatively odd void when it comes to straddling a sonic line between dream-pop and modern rock. The Shallows, a new project featuring members of Strangeways (RIP), This Bliss, and others, aim to fill that open space, and have certainly caught our wide-eyed attention with a rousing debut single titled “Arsonist.”
The title track to The Shallows’ forthcoming debut LP “riffs on the familiar theme of pure joy experienced after escaping an unhealthy romance,” the band tells Vanyaland.
The Shallows were formed by Brad Emerson and Jason Keisch, who wanted to take Strangeways’ British indie leanings and apply it through a broader shoegaze and post-punk filter. Megan LaFoschia and Tony DelBuono soon joined the band, with This Bliss’ Jess Baggia coming on board — just weeks ago — to round out the quintet’s lush guitar-rock grandiosity. It’s slightly unsettling, but “Arsonist” sounds like the product of a band playing together for ages, a certain chemistry oozing through the speakers, striking a nice balance between the heaviness of shoegaze and a glossy spin of traditional pop. Let’s call it pop-gaze.
With The Shallows, we’re already wandering off into the deep end. Listen to “Arsonist” below, and catch the band Thursday (October 15) at ONCE Somerville, and then at their Arsonist record release party November 2 at Union Tavern in Somerville.
Excitement awaits.