In recent years, the “shoegaze” subgenre has been having a renaissance, with bands such as Nothing and Suburban Living leading the charge. Defined by the characteristics of its performers, shoegaze originally spawned in the late 80s as an almost incomprehensible mix of distorted guitars, reverb and cavernous vocals. Its revival has seen more experimentation within the genre, leading to some great releases. Now, Swindon’s RAIN have added their two cents with their latest EP, ‘Abstract Vision’.
Opening with ‘Petrichor’, RAIN waste no time with their introduction, leading in with a reverbed guitar that gives way for a grandiose grunge sound. The band weave their way in and out of densely packed choruses and sparse verses, before leading onto second track ‘Twist the Knife’. The seas are calmer here, as the band take on a much more controlled emo sound, making for the lightest note of the EP.
The haze of drum fills and excessive distortion can become tiresome after a while, but RAIN successfully pique interest with ‘Flowers of Aurora’, a beautiful track that traverses every part of what the band have to offer. The ebb and flow of chaos and control is still present, but it’s reigned in a little more, allowing the track to breathe. This, twinned with the more upbeat title track, rounds off an impressive EP on a note of promise for a band still in their infancy.
After just two EPs, RAIN have secured a tight grip around their seamless fusion of grunge and shoegaze. Their ability to write songs that feel so full in places, and so empty in others is enviable, and creates a wonderful, dynamic listening experience. If there is to be one concern, it’s that there might not be much further to go within the sound, with both grunge and shoegaze being fairly one-trick in nature. That being said, there’s definitely a future for RAIN, one that should be watched closely as they surely rise to the forefront of the shoegaze renaissance.
4/5
‘Abstract Vision’ EP by RAIN is out now on Venn Records.
RAIN links: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Soundcloud
Words by Ben Mills (@BenMills28)
