There is something about American music that always moves my soul. It gets under my skin, occupies my thoughts and honestly, is closest to my heart. Maybe I’m feeling this way as I grew up on a steady sonic diet of American folk, blues, soul, heavy metal and rap. Maybe, it’s because of my family history or maybe because of something completely different or even random I cannot even think of.Being based in the UK, we rarely cover American artists on our blog, but when we do, there is always a good reason for it. And today’s good reason to write about stillfilms is their newest single called “Fader”.
“Fader” single cover by Breezy Medina
Official bio: stillfilms is a 3-piece shoegaze/dreampop band based in Long Beach, CA. Forming in the fall of 2021, the group consists of Sophia Medina (vocals, bass), Daniel Romero (guitar), and Zach Lehrich (drums). Reverb-soaked guitars fused with ethereal vocal melodies, stillfilms’ toes the line between the atmospheric tone of bands like Slowdive and Daughter, to dream pop melodies of bands like Alvvays and The Sundays. Instrumentally, their music ranges from moody and melancholic to energetic and empowering, while their lyrics tend to fixate on the somber side of life.
Released on 5th of January “Fader” was described by the Underground magazine as “shoegaze’s finest”.It is the band’s fourth single, following the debut “Drag Me Down” (September 2022), “How Do I” (May 2023) and their most well known, gentle “Safe Bet” (June 2023).I may not be inclined to agree with the label of “the finest” the genre has to offer, but it is a damn good example. The song definitely should be included in the “shoegaze” definition on Wikipedia.
“Fader” is quite short by the shoegaze defined standards. It is only 4 minutes long, 2.5 minute shorter than an average track. It is melodic, airy, with many tempo changes, slow passages, faster choruses and features heavily distorted guitars. The song has a certain melancholic vibe to it, some psychedelic sadness that is elusive and hard to pinpoint. Sophia Medina’s vocals are again, by standard, dreamy, kind of monotonne yet vibrant. She has been compared (inaccurately in my opinion) to Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays and Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, but I think she is closer to Natalie Merchant (10.000 Manics era) or Anna Nalick in her timbre and intonation. Sophia is an excellent singer, able to reach much higher registers than your regular shoegaze songstress, which is a big plus in my book but it makes her sound like an indie rock singer. Will Oliver of We All Want Somone zine wrote that she reminded him of Liz Phair, and seriously, I can see why he reached that conclusion. Medina’s vocals would fit a rock band like a glove but either way, she is doing a fantatic job on “Fader”.
stillfilms on film
So what makes stillfilms stand out from the rest of bands that play that type of music? Shoegaze is incredibly popular and there are million carbon copies of Slowdive and Ride on every streaming service. For me, stillfilms do not really sound like a typical shoegaze band. Despite meeting all genre requirements, they have their own, well defined personality. There is a very thick layer of indie and alternative rock under this fancy, atmospheric buzz they make. The guitars are heavier than normally, the beat is straightforward noise-rock a la Polvo or Helium.If you listen closely enough, you will catch glimpses of 80’s British rock (The Smiths, The Cure, Echo and The Bunnymen). Great stuff, really!
Steve Lamacq always said that the best bands look like they accidently met at the bus stop and the trio looks like they started chatting about music at the metro link stop somewhere in Hulme circa 1997 and decided to play a gig at The Night & Day Cafe a week later. Everything from granny sweaters, to cut off jeans and Dad’s pullovers are aesthetically pleasing and harmonious with their sound. stillfilms are mixing American alternative rock with British gothic rock and cold wave with great success. Not many bands can pull that off.
stillfilms are going to release another single in March and then a full EP should arrive some time later. I”m looking forward to hearing it and if they are ever touring the UK, I will be gladly seeing them playing live. That kind of music may not be everyone’s cup of tea as it demands focus and contemplation to truly appreciate it.
Luckily for me, I adore shoegaze in general so I’m as happy as a labrador in your local Pets At Home.
5 stars from me.
Follow stillfilms on:
https://www.instagram.com/stillfilmsmusic/
https://stillfilms.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuKOUix2BwvxSPqqUfyrSgw
https://open.spotify.com/track/3aWwJv7SyDam0BgA1ci0pi
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 