'Are We Getting Better?' Review: The Gloomies get low-fi & moody in this atmospheric exploration of their lives
Taking their musical cues from California's surf scene, The Gloomies have been influenced by the sounds of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ariel Pink, and Lana Del Rey. Their frontman Andy Craig first formed the group in Southern California, and their debut single 'LSD' helped them break into the mainstream music scene in 2015.
The surfy track was originally only posted on SoundCloud for their friends to hear, but it eventually ended up on countless music blogs and even landed them “Buzz Band of the Week” courtesy of NME.
After receiving praise from Noisey, DIY, KCRW, and many others, and having completed months of extensive touring, The Gloomies released their 'Blackout' EP in 2016. This was followed by the 2017 single 'Space', which was a collaboration with Cults singer Madeline Follin.
In 2018, they returned to New York to complete work on their debut LP 'Romance'. The band then spent the last year in New York recording their new material - resulting in a hypnotic collection of songs that showcases their original vision. The singles 'Moonlight' and 'Sick Like You' were put out in 2019 ahead of their upcoming LP, 'Are We Getting Better?' which is slated for release on March 6, 2020.
We recently took a listen to the new Gloomies album and were pretty impressed by what we heard. Like the name 'Are We Getting Better?' suggests, it's a spacey, synth-infused outpouring of emotion and introspection, an analysis of the band members' collective psyches as they wade through nameless days and various relationships, and ask themselves the question, "Are we getting better or are our present circumstances being held together by a barely-there thread?"
Built around haunting synth parts, low-fi beats and Craig's mellow, moody vocals, this is an exploration of relationships and coming to terms with our tempered expectations in this modern world.
On 'Moonlight', a bewildered Andy speaks of strange visions coming from the ocean, and it's the perfect gloomy opener for this LP. The imaginatively titled 'Voice Memo 004' plaintively asks "Are we getting better?" almost as if it knows the answer to that question already.
'DNTGTBTTR' ("Don't get better/bitter" presumably?) carries that question further, letting the melancholy soak in while acknowledging that this living nightmare may never end - "watch as all the lights turn off in your head forever," Craig croons.
'Nightlight' is another gloomy special, with Craig remarking how he'd been "awake forever." According to the frontman, the song "came from a time in my life when I had incredibly bad insomnia. The band and I would be up all night long recording and messing around on new songs. This was happening over the course of months, and everything started to sort of blur together. This song is about that state and how it feels to become lost in that haze."
'Sunflower Pollen' meanders through heady synths and lush guitar arpeggios, as Craig explores the darkened spaces in between his "plastic mind" and his lover. On 'Sick Like You', a groovy, nimble ballad filled with modulated guitar work, Andy begs his lover to "hold me till I'm older" as they spiral round and round in a whirlpool of their own making.
The yearning and melancholia doesn't lift on 'Mess We Made', a swirling, moving ode to fractured relationships and broken dreams. The feeling of helplessness and aimless drifting on this record is perfectly encapsulated on one of the stand-out tracks of this album, 'Sideways', which has been described as "a hazy and fuzzy reflection on feeling lost in your own life."
'Calm Now' brings us some welcome respite, as some beautiful, glowing synths and Andy's Elliot Smith-esque vocals conjure up visions of flowers, red, white and blue flashes of light and the realization that "nothing ever helped" in helping him stay calm.
All in all, this is certainly a "gloomy" record, one that's best described as a headphones album. It's best consumed on a rainy day when you wish to switch the outside world off and settle in under the covers with a warm beverage in hand, as the magical synths and The Gloomies' sorrowful lyrics wraps themselves around you like a security blanket.