Spectreview: Penelope Isles – Until The Tide Creeps In
June 12, 2019
Indie Pop
Surf-Pop
Psych Pop
-MAROON-
In today’s episode of somnambulent, innocuous indie pop, Brighton-based sibling-led band Penelope Isles recently put out a pleasant series of aqua-centric songs called Until The Tide Creeps In, their first for Bella Union. Brother/sister duo Jack and Lily Wolter focus on supplanting their songs with tiny world-building details, like flickering twinkles, Bon Iver-style breakdowns and xylophone (that most beloved of indie accoutrements), and they do bring a sense of cohesion to a collection of tracks that are essentially composed individually between each songwriter. Lily’s voice in particular gets layered in elegant harmonies that do wonders in bringing her songs to life. The highlights here are songs that borrow tricks now canon in the indie songbook: “Gnarbone’s” breakdown, a lift of Deerhunter’s “Nothing Ever Happened,” still successfully builds enough tension to stick in your brain, while opening numbers “Chlorine” and “Round” are part psych, part jangle, part bunches of surfy Brooklyn bands from the young decade. Because of this, the records floats by in an unchallenging way, an ideal addition to any indie-centric playlist and algorithmic radio station. As an album, it’s perhaps a little too sleepy for its own good, a little too similar to a common sound for any meaningful individuation. Even the majority of harder songs, fronted mainly by Jack, lean a little too downtempo to conjure much excitement on their own terms. A dearth of excitement shouldn’t denigrate its agreeability though; those looking for a smooth, deftly-constructed, backward-looking indie pop album need not go further than this record.
Recommended for that moment just before you fall asleep on the beach and condemn yourself to a sunburn.
Lives in Seattle, terrible diet, loves music, has hope for people