Number one tip for getting me interested in your band instantly? Chuck the ‘-gaze’ suffix on your chosen genre. As a self-professed fanatic for everything shoegaze spewed forth into the wonderful world of music, I’m always happy to hear what the contemporaries are up to.
Blaire, a three-piece out of the Gold Coast, today add another slammer to their growing punkgaze catalogue with Smiling. It’s a track which starts hard and fast, never relenting in its total aural domination. I was into it from the first note.
Blaire crank up the volume and the feels on Smiling, a ripper entry into the Aussie punkgaze lexicon. We recommend playing this one loud.
The guitar tones rule Smiling from the get go, a neverending wall of sound which doesn’t relent in volume nor authority. You might become enraptured enough to miss the lyrics – if they weren’t so razor sharp.
“‘Smiling is about being really into something”, shared lead vocalist and guitarist Ben Stagg, “when you know deep down it’s probably killing you.”
The chorus hits this feeling on the head, main hook “Staring at the sun and you don’t why” standing as the perfect metaphor. Whether it’s going in for one more drink or getting back into that relationship you left for good reason, we’ve all crossed the line against our own best intentions before. It’s part of being human.
Smiling follows on from Youth, Blaire’s previous release and the most ambitious declaration of their sound to date. If Youth laid the foundations, Smiling is the house Blaire are inviting you to put your feet up in – these fellas are here to stay.
Keep an eye out for live dates from Blaire very soon. Smiling is out tomorrow on GD FRNDS.
