Stagnant Pools

Geist

Polyvinyl Records

Street: 06.10

Stagnant Pools = Slowdive + Wire + Edwyn Collins

I could probably fill most of the shoegaze reviews I write with half-hearted comparisons to Slowdive and be done with ’em. That’s what I thought here, at first, with the opening song “You Whir,” but a different narrative unfolded upon subsequent listenings. This one starts off shoegaze-strong, then back channels with a bit of post-punkiness in the guitar work and deadpanish Orange Juice–style vocals from vocalist Bryan Enas. Brian and his brother Douglass recorded Geist, their second album, in a Chicago winter, and though they’re from Indiana, I swear their long lost home is dreary ol’ England—these tracks are buzzin’ with that classic British indie sound. –Christian Schultz