Los Angeles, USA-based alternative rock group The Loud Bangs first hit my radar back in June when their EP Highway Safety Films left me highly impressed. Their sound combines a love of ’90s shoegaze and German club music to create something that feels wholly unique. A couple of months later, they’re back with another EP release. It’s called The Alice Experience.
By Graeme Smith
Feature photo by Kim Withers
The Alice in the EP’s title is the band’s singer and guitar player Alice Street. The EP was created with struggles with mental health and an ever-present looming worry of being hospitalized in mind. As such, there is a certain gloominess about it, but the picture is also very nuanced.
Opener The Gloria Films certainly has a touch of melancholy, particularly in Hannah Remley’s droning bassline, but there are bright notes too coming from Daisy Gutierrez’s guitar and keys, and the tempo is kept lively by Marcus Nemuro’s drums. The result is something that feels as complex as the human mind.
The Stacey Diagram opens with a sequence of Dada-esque surrealism before exploding into an expansive and airy electronic arrangement. The Loud Bangs usually eschew lyrics in their songs, favouring barely audible vocalisations instead and the tactic certainly pays off here. The complex and textured instrumentals tell a strong story all of their own. It’s an EP highlight.
The Edith Formation plunges you into a well of noise that wouldn’t feel out of place being played in the studio of a prog rock outfit circa 1966. Delicate spoken-word vocals swim in it, accompanied by single strummed scuzzy guitar chords. Things are kept minimal but continue to feel all-encompassing. The result is a simply beautiful vignette.
The Jessica Triangle introduces elements of acoustic folk to proceedings, but remain unmistakably The Loud Bangs. It feels like a deconstructed country song. That is, until the reverberating bass starts to hit you, and the track settles into a shoegaze groove before fading into an extended outro.
The EP closes with The Jamie Situation, which features rapper K C Q. It’s the perfect way to end as it seems to reflect elements of all that has come before while pushing things even further with the experimentation. The themes of mental health coalescence in the barely there interview that lurks beneath the instrumentals. It’s another highlight.
Every note I hear of The Loud Bangs makes me love them more. They are genuinely one of my favourite discoveries for this blog this year and I certainly hope they continue to be as prolific as they have been so far. I can’t wait to hear more!
You can listen to the whole of The Alice Experience below.
