Flowers, consisting of Sam (guitars), Rachel (vocals) and Jordan (drums). Sam combines rock with shoegaze and noise rock, Jordan functions as the ritual hypnotist while Rachel lulls the listener into a deep trance. The amalgamation of those elements results in something intensely satisfying, definitely something I would like to see live this upcoming summer. Think Cocteau Twins, think Sonic Youth, think Slowdive, think Jesus and the Mary Chain and think Pixies.
Rachel's ethereal voice does indeed remind me of Elizabeth Fraser and at some point even hints towards Kate Bush, certainly in 'Pull My Arm'. Now, I have to say that I wasn't really convinced when I heard that song for the first time. Perhaps I had to get used to it after listening to all that metal earlier today. However, once 'Bitter Pill' began, Flowers certainly got my attention and by the time I was halfway through 'Intrusive Thoughts' I turned up the volume and started shoegazing my ass off.
There are some brilliant songs on this album, 'Intrusive Thoughts' definitely is one of them, the heavy 'Tammy' too. Yet, the absolute highlight here is the gloomy track 'Russian Doll'. Here, suddenly, The Dresden Dolls come to mind. I don't know why, probably because Rachel sounds a bit like Amanda. 'My Only Friend' even takes me back to the nineties when I liked listening to The Breeders or Veruca Salt. Those were great summers and if Flowers finally break through with this album, the summer of 2016 could be awesome too...
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