If I am totally honest, after having lived the 1st shoegaze wave full-on in the 90’s; after having been through all possible revivals and hearing a multitude of bands inspired by Slowdive and MBV, I got a bit shoegaze tired. Suffice to say that there are only a few bands that still manage to surprise me, or evolve/convey that classic sound to a level capable of evoking the original sensations: the feeling I had when ensconced in a haze of revolutionary, mind-blowing sounds coming from a mixtape on my Walkman…
But sometimes, a band comes along that makes me feel exactly like that again. One of those rare moments was finding TARA, a 5-piece shoegaze/dreampop outfit from Brooklyn, NY. TARA started as guitarist/vocalist Saagar Kurani made the move to NYC and met Wesley Deimling and Stephen Kingslow. The band set out to focus on recreating a nostalgic sound without sounding dated, and came up with some demo’s that became the first set of outstanding singles in 2019 ( Second Guess, Wander(!) and Letting Go).
Today TARA release their single “Oceans” and prove us that they are here to stay: the track instantly submerges us in a wave of nostalgia, bringing back memories of Lush, Chapterhouse and Soundpool whilst, at the same time, bringing some more contempo elements in, like steel/folk guitar and subtle synths. It’s all cleverly done and everything sits neatly in its right place, but most importantly: it bequeaths solace and joy in these strange times. Superb! Now where is that album!
