well, here’s a lesser-known one that i thought was worth checking out. i haven’t listened to a lot of swirlies personally, beyond their innocuous epic “Two Girls Kissing“, but i came across this number via the algorithm and found it pretty intriguing. even though its length is around four and a half minutes, it’s really three and a half since there’s distorted, loud drumming and static noise at the very end for a whole minute.
swirlies are widely considered a shoegaze band. in “Sounds of Sebring”, however, the ‘shoegaze’-that is, distorted ethereal reverb washes and breathy vocals-aren’t in this song as much. i think the most shoegaze-y parts of this are the the tremolo-effect riff and noisy bridge/outro, but it’s rather understated. it’s closer to twee pop, punctuated with noise.
my favorite part about this song has to be the fact that i find something new with every listen. “Sounds of Sebring” sounds deceptively simple, but there are little nuances i find with every careful listen: for example, i just listened to it now, and thought i heard a bit of flanger/synth in the chorus. it’s like treasure hunting.
the song itself is catchy, bubbly, and slightly offbeat, and the dual vocalists have a nice back-and-forth. i think the vocals are a highlight, actually, and the best word i can describe them with is ‘adorable’. i’m being serious! give it a listen if you haven’t already.
q-street 