GUSH by 9Million

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that someone put shoegaze together with washed-out drain gang vocals, but I’m pretty blown away by how well it works for this band. 9Million’s new record GUSH plays with some genuinely experimental notions, taking riff inspiration from Slint and interspersing their catchy tunes with deep, dark ambient tracks. Simultaneously, this band has their finger on the cultural pulse, adorning these niche sounds with vocals that seem as equally indebted to Bladee as they do to Deftones. All of these genres play with themes of intense alienation and dissociation, the same forces that drive the mental health crises and the formation of violent cults in contemporary society. Naturally, bringing these genres together would yield something that scratches the same itch, that sits with you when you’re feeling particularly purposeless.

-Michael