Occult Radiance (studio album) by Fleeting Joys

From Secondsoul 04/25/2015 12:50

Gowi has summed it up well. A great shoegazing album that pays homage to My Bloody Valentine

From mickilennial 11/18/2013 01:58

Whenever a great band dissolves out of nowhere, there must always come a infatuated fan to carry the torch., the idea of repeating what was done before you with little progression is a thing that is not uncommon in rock music’s history. Bands like Interpol, Where's Moo and countless others are called such things when it comes to continuing where the band that influenced them started. But what separates such flattering repetition and truly carrying the torch? This thought comes to mind often and we go back and listen to the dreamy, liquid and mesmerizing standard that was My Bloody Valentine. Shoegaze has hardly dispersed into nothing which this review should make painfully obvious. After 1991’s Loveless , the shoegaze powerhouse disappeared from the map. Now you wonder, where can I hear another Loveless? I will give you the answer with the subject matter of this review. Fleeting Joys’ second album, Occult Radiance.

Unlike their debut, the Fleeting Joys realize there is a difference from spot on imitation (although good imitation) and carrying the torch. Occult Radiance displays a similarity so much that some people on the internet had uploaded the album on share site’s as a My Bloody Valentine’s newest record. The prank, seemingly unnoticed at first is a brilliant marketing strategy by fans of Fleeting Joys. The album displays more emotion, more wailing and more gloom-esque beauty than the debut it is following. The album opens with You Are The Darkness and displays you what could be their Only Shallow. It’s accessible, but it wails and crunches through your ears like a droning banshee, it’s screams driving you in and not letting go. It’s beautiful in every meaning of the word. Through the albums progression you can see the flow going through and soon become very aware that you are not actually listening to Loveless. The shoegaze soon transforms back down to dream pop by the time you hear All Release and Don’t Go and it is fantastic. The album strikes never a dull moment for fans of dream pop & shoegaze. This is Fleeting Joys, this is shoegaze, this is potentially the legend of My Bloody Valentine.

This record is firmly fantastic, although dropping some punches by the second half of the record to some. But I don’t think so in any regard. This isn’t noise rock, it’s not supposed to grab you by your jaws and hit your face in with a sledgehammer. Though, I would like to hear a fusion of two in eventuality. Not on this record, however. Truly, if you are a fan of shoegaze, dream pop or hell just any type of music that makes you trapped in a gaze, this is for you. I’ve listened to this record on several occasions and it has not waned at all. It is such a crime that this band is so unknown in the music community and it would be a travesty if you don’t at least listen to Occult Radiance.