Doompop
Young Heavy Souls, 2020
10/10
Detroit’s Zilched, i.e. Chloe Drallos, grew up on a steady diet of Nirvana and Jesus and Mary Chain, and those influences are certainly at the surface of her curious brand of noise-pop where Nick Russo sits behind the drum kit and Eliot Thomas handles bass.
“Blue Doom” starts the listen with a thick layer of fuzz as galloping percussion invades the noise meets pop elements that are both pretty and abrasive in a goth-friendly sort of way, and “The Knife” follows with quick pace of jangly indie-rock that builds into sonic walls of melodic reverb.
Deeper into the listen, “Velcro Dog” offers a firm post-punk haze amid a dreamy quality, while “The Morning” is a calmer display of clever basslines and gritty rock alongside soaring, echoed vocals. The aptly titled “Dark Side” then bristles with an indeed ominous aspect to its emotive pulse.
The last two tracks are among the best, including the swift drumming of the tense “Sixteen”, where harmonic singing pairs with a furious landscape, and “Teenage Insects” exits with a mix of talking and singing under a melodic sea of tuneful racket.
A debut album about growing up, the turbulence of adolescence certainly lingers in these frustrated anthems that leave it unclear whether you should be banging your head with your thickest flannel on, or writing poetry while listening to Sonic Youth. Either way, every second here is dense, raw, luminous perfection.
Travels well with: Skye Wallace- Skye Wallace; Dilly Dally- Sore