A Shoreline Dream 'Room For The Others' Delivers Whimsical Bliss

There are certain bands who are considered mainstays in specific genres. For punk it's The Sex Pistols, for country Willie Nelson. Among currently active musicians, for post-punk and shoegaze alike, the band I present you today numbers among those who come to mind.

Colorado’s A Shoreline Dream have revealed their new single ‘Room For The Others’ - the fourth track from their ever-evolving new album, with each being released digitally as stand-alone singles, one at a time.

This music has everything a shoegaze dream should include. It's hazy, vivid and surreal. Even the video fits that description, featuring layers of the band, dream sequences and textures. This is a listening MUST for anyone really into bands like Public Service Broadcasting, British Sea Power, Engineers, Ride, Placebo, North Atlantic Oscillation.

The video features a somewhat distorted and dream-like vision of the current state of self expression. Featuring Denver's live performance duo Scissor Sweethearts, the video is somewhat of a sequel to ASD's 2016 video 'Revolvist', in that it takes both Serana and Siara past their performance element and on the streets. As the sweethearts prepare and leave their domain feeling confident in themselves, we see how the public reacts to even the slightest "out of the ordinary look" in an increasingly more stereotype driven society.

While the original wave of shoegazers chose textures and otherworldliness over conventional clarity and 90’s post-rockers opted for progressive and fluid structures rather than traditional form, A Shoreline Dream are the keepers of both of those flames. Delivering a heady cocktail of dream-pop, shoegaze, neo-psychedelia, goth and progressive rock, the new single also brings a gothic undertone set against a pulsing, energetic rhythm and is, on the whole, more in keeping with northern European atmosphere than the warm sidewalks of Denver’s suburbs.

A Shoreline Dream is Ryan Policky on vocals, guitar, keys, bass and programming and Erik Jeffries on guitar. Originating from Barnum, Colorado, their music is often referred to as “progressive shoegaze”, indicating their blending of lush sampled textures, organic instrumentation and vocals layered like a synth. But it is the studio’s final treatment of the song that is the real joy, affecting a cavernous production style, and haunting and ethereal resonance in keeping with the semi-lucid and sonorous nature of this music.

Recently marking 10 years since releasing their debut album, in that time, A Shoreline Dream has churned out numerous acclaimed releases under their own label (Latenight Weeknight Records), working with legends such as Ulrich Schnauss, Mark Kramer and The Engineers (for whom they remixed a song for progressive label gods K-Scope). They also opened for Chapterhouse for their very final appearance.

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