Dear listener, over the past month or so I’ve been alluding to musical acts that were… but are not anymore. So once again, let’s jump aboard the nostalgia train and take the nearest stop to yet another cobweb infested and tuneful tombstone. I would be remiss in my efforts to bring you the finest of dead bands if I didn’t shoot a passing glance at School of Seven Bells. While I wouldn’t say I’m personally infatuated with their overall sound, or their discography for that matter, I’ll acknowledge them for an ability to create tunes that manage to sound completely different than anything else out there in the dream pop/shoegaze market. Among their contemporaries, SVIIB managed to squeeze out a noise that is more memorable, more abstract in lyrical composition, and more ethereal than any other similar act (in my opinion). The best part of this group were the vocals, which were recorded by the very lovely Deheza twins before the instrumentals. For those who don’t know, that’s a somewhat unorthodox and polar opposite approach to modern music creation. The twins’ voices were heavenly, especially together, and they did this thing where they occasionally sounded nearly robotic on top of the soundscapes that were built around their voices. The lyrics were often as abstract as dreams themselves, allowing the listener to simply project a meaning on to the tunes without excessive handholding by the music makers. They went on making some pretty cool and chill tunes for about a decade. One of the sisters dropped out of the band in 2010 for personal reasons, followed subsequently by the passing of their bandmate Benjamin Curtis to T-cell lymphoma in 2013. Although they haven’t put a record out since 2016, I still find myself randomly hearing their work through Pandora or some dark corner of the internet, and suddenly feel an uncontrollable urge to revisit these indie rock pioneers of yesteryear. The track above is a remix specifically done for a song of theirs that got on the show True Detective, and that is Trance Figure from 2008’s Alpinisms. If you like it, I implore you to click here to sample the more angelic side of their catalog. Enjoy!
While I wouldn’t put them on any kind of vaunted ‘Favorite Bands of All-Time’ list, their efforts keep me coming back, spoon and bowl in hand, buttocks clenched in anticipation of a heapin' helping of eerie and transcendent beauty. Image source: https://www.nme.com/news/music/school-of-seven-bells-5-1230847
