Photo by Julia Koza
Having been already established as a scion of the underground with the blisteringly realized shoegaze of 2020’s lauded DOOMPOP, Zilched continues to flex on a pair of new singles that ring true with unparalleled alt-rock authenticity and stadium-sized pop sensibilities.
An unabashedly primal blast of cathode tube 90s worship, “A Valentine” crackles with enough static electricity to make every hair stand on end, transforming bodies into living receptors fully attuned to the resonant power and magnificent weight of the music. Downtuned guitars roll and churn amidst the feedback, wrestling against a bassline that surges with rhythmic enormity as Chloë Drallos’ vocals rise from the tempest with a lo-fi howl. Verses simmer with fuzzed out kinetic energy before breaking free into anthemic Psychocandy-coated hooks yearning and celebrating the desire for true emotional fulfilment that exists just beyond reach.
Brought to life awash in digital noise and blue light in a video that could have been filmed in 1991 or 2021, a small crowd gathers for a singular performance, a fleeting togetherness fueled by chance that enables temporary lightness of being amidst the dark. Similar efforts by any other act would be seen as purely aesthetic, but Zilched remain resolutely committed to a vision borne from the traditions of the past rather than beholden to them and the resulting vision is refreshingly now.
Covering Stevie Nicks is no small undertaking, but Drallos succeeds by pouring so much of her own style into “Stand Back” that Zilched’s rendition takes on an entirely crisp life of its own. A half step slower and bathed in feedback, even the iconic hook becomes a unique entity while preserving a tangible reverence for the original. Drallos took a similar approach in her interpretation of Madonna’s “Material Girl,” but “Stand Back” is a considerably more natural fit, transcending the bounds of a bedroom cover and proving that Drallos has the chops to confidently stand alongside the best of the best.
The self-directed video swirls and pulses under flashing lights in a way that wouldn’t be out of place in an early lineup of MTV’s 120 Minutes. Distilled down to an elemental level by burning off all traces of 80s excess in favor of a sparsely private ritual, Drallos summons the energy of pop music’s original witchy woman to dance among the shadows enveloped in waves of guitar feedback.
Stream “A Valentine” on Spotify. Follow Zilched on Instagram and catch the final stop on their 2021 tour at Purgatory on November 14.
