So another batch of weird French pop, right? Nah, LAPÊCHE hails from Brooklyn and has been sending out its waves of throbbing, shoegazey pop-rock for a decade. Befitting the ages of the band members, the sound is drenched in 90s tropes and energy.

LAPÊCHE Autotelic (Tiny Engines)

All good and well, but does it, y'know, rock? Sideways, and I like that. There are quite grunge riffs that are played more like new wave bits. If the band decided to lean into the fuzz or heaviness, this stuff could go full sludge. Rather, the band sticks to the ringing pop ideal, finding brightness even in the darkest corners of chord progressions.

As should be expected, this is a bit more shoegazey than previous outings, befitting the current ethos. But just a bit. LAPÊCHE hews pretty closely to the "MBV without the murderous scrim" style that it established ten years ago.

In the finest alt-pop tradition, these songs are really not happy affairs. But they sure as hell elict cries of joy. The subverting of pop conventions is just the cherry on top. What fun for a snowy winter!

Jon Worley