Halcyon High, to be infinite

Like Kevin Shields going acoustic, singing campfire songs about the end of the world. This is the soundtrack to bad things happening in the distance; it’s pretty, and it makes you nervous. It should be the soundtrack to the movie version of The Road. Portland’s Halcyon High is a rare re-interpretation of J. Spaceman through the hands of a bold West Coast brand of shoegaze.

One thing that actually works really well here is the use of recordings embedded in the songs. In my favorite song off the EP, “Iris,” a recording of Col. Kurtz’s “horror” monologue plays in the background as a somber gust of guitar noise waves in and out. Listen closely: “Horror has a face… and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies.”

This isn’t nod-your-head rock-and-roll, but it’s definitely a good listen as you roam the city at night by yourself. A good soundtrack to uncertain times, for sure.