Shoegaze, carried on and thought ahead: great comeback of the alternative icons.
Drop Nineteens were one of those bands that always sat a meter or two away from the right chair. At the beginning of the 1990s, when alternative rock exploded in the USA, they watched from the sidelines because their music was too cerebral, too dreamy, perhaps too wishy-washy. At the same time, the first of the two studio albums, DELAWARE, which was released in 1992, has aged well and contains one of the most beautiful shoegaze songs ever, “Winona”. 30 years later, little has changed in the band’s coordinates.
As before, the guitars are so intertwined that it’s a joy; Greg Ackell still sings with a little astonishment large melodic arcs, which are sometimes expanded by Paula Kelley. But: Post-rock patterns are inserted into the shoegaze structures, but at the same time they lay down false trails, because actually that’s how it is: Drop Nineteens play music that goes beyond genres. Guitar rock that alternately explodes and sweeps up shards; at the same time conscious of tradition – you can also hear the early Mercury Rev here – and music of the moment. Astonishing. And amazingly great.