Film School - alwaysnever Review

That's me on that swing right there. Faceless in the dark, feet raking the earth. It's a warm night for Autumn; no breeze, no rain. Four in the morning so I'll assume I'm alone. But you never know. I've left the headlights on in my car, it lights the scene and reminds me I'm still here. The caramel of the leaves and green glow of the pine do well to both hide and highlight my fading identity. The blue of denim and white of leather are all that's left of me to show. I've barely even blinked for the best part of twenty minutes. Locked in a state of suspended animation. There's a book twenty years thick in my head, and its pages are being turned every other second. Never enough time to register all the words. If you look closely, you can see the dangle of wires from either side of my face. Film School – alwaysnever.

Since discovering this four track EP about six months ago, there has rarely been a 'solitary' night where alwaysnever has not been part of the soundtrack. As far as four am records with street-lights and park benches go, alwaysnever is near faultless. Film School have nailed down, musically, what it means to drift and float, but still remain human. The opener Ms. Connection, with its airy distillation of frustration and freedom, spilling washed out drums and hazy vocals from its fluctuating ambience, sets the shoegazing scene perfectly. It's not restrained; it's controlled with room to explore. The next two tracks, Activated and p.s, are not quite as clouded in shoegaze fog, but even with their more traditional indie approaches they still hit the sweet spot of active stillness; like bolted passengers staring out of a train window....full text Autumn; no breeze, no rain. Four in the morning so I'll assume I'm alone. But you never know. I've left the headlights on in my car, it lights the scene and reminds me I'm still here....full text They're hypnotic, dreamy, and atmospheric, it says here. Also says it's the band's follow-up to a full length which I haven't heard, but I might have to get around to it. Film School is on the one hand Yet Another drifty/reverb-heavy band in a world increasingly full of same, but like the best of the post-everything ever bands in this particular vein, there's just enough of an individual glaze amidst the whispered vocals and delay. Part of it is the way that they happily throw in other elements and twists to the songs—"P.S." almost has a Pixies-like hookiness to it (in both low and high volume senses) amid the spacy delays, while "Activated" cuts down the echo for low-key enough winsome waltzing—at least initially. Credit also to keyboardist Jason Ruck, who adds subtle tones and burbles—even bell-like sounds—as needed, fleshing out some songs and in others knowing when to hold back to let space come through. "I Just Turned Into a Gas" in particular, a song with pace and space enough early on to suggest that a Cranes revival might finally be on the cards, ends up turning into something that fellow travelers Landing could have recorded before turning and twisting yet again. There's definitely something going down with these folks....full text