Send "Film School " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 California's Film School had previously explored the well-trod ground between distortion and beauty without much variety, but Fission actually shows their musical vision changing into something more splintered and colorful. The group still leans hard on their most beloved sounds: single-note guitar peals that bounce off springing reverb, softly mumbled vocals, thick bass riffs, and big, billowy swaths of synthesizer. But while they once had a sort of rainy-day murk about them, these textures now sparkle like burnished silver.Certainly, the transformation is a good look for a band that spent too long playing in the shadows. The pitch-shifted samples and electro-drum rattles of "Heart Full of Pentagons" give a slick and stylish underpinning to Greg Bertens' unusually forceful vocals. "Heart" is a definite career highlight, starting off an album-opening triad where Film School sound like they're on the verge of establishing a distinctiveness that their prior work lacked. "When I'm Yours" and "Time to Listen" are hard-charging and simultaneously spooky, something closer to the Cure at their most post-punk. And while the group still isn't going to be known for big hooks, the double-time kick of "Distant Life" and "Sunny Day" are accessible enough to frame Film School as students of the pop side of shoegaze as opposed to just the blown-out part. Despite of all the sonic additions, the album's urgency is what feels most new. When Fission is at its best, you feel like Film School was tiring of being a band that could accurately call an album Hideout. Though the airhorn guitar blast of "Waited" would've fit on their prior records, here it feels like a veil of secrecy has been lifted on an intimate conversation between Bertens and bassist Lorelei Plotczyk. But then the energy seems to float away during the pleasant but anodyne electronic indie-pop of Fission's midsection....full text |
| Lithiummagazine |
| Fission is album number four for Film School. I have been sitting on writing this review for a week – spending a little more time with the material, as I didn’t immediately like the album as much as their last two. After some repeat listens, I believe Fission may be the album that finally gets Film School their much deserved audience. Here’s why: Over their last two albums and respective touring, Film School built up an audience on the back of their original music that lifts heavily from the sounds of early shoegazer / brit pop circa 1990 – 1994. Material like ‘11:11’; ‘Dear Me’ and ‘Lectric’ shimmer with dervish-like guitaring reminiscent of the better material from Ride and Catherine Wheel – which was an easy sell to my ears as the afore mentioned bands are two of my favourites from that era. Fission is a different sounding album for Film School. The songs on Fission are a bit tighter in running time – and boast lyrics that are more prominent and easy to follow than both previous albums. While there are still elements of the requisite dream-pop Film School are known and loved for, it’s songs like ‘Distant Life’; 'Bones' and ‘When I’m Yours’ that beacon the shift in direction for Film School, owing more to bands like Joy Division and Television than anything they have attempted in the past....full text |
| Fensepost |
| There’s a lot going on inside a Film School song, and thankfully it all works. From leering, pulsing guitar to brooding lyrics, the San Francisco based band have captured a shimmering, seething, and triumphant sound. With a style many say is rooted in the tradition of 80’s new wave Brit rock, Film School’s latest album Fission is more energetically lucid and accessible than their prior work spawning likeable dance beats and sweetly melancholy harmonies. At times perhaps we feel a bit lost in the cacophony, but we don’t necessarily want to be found. Rather we’re content to ramble amidst their river rapid sounds unsure of, yet serenely excited for, where they’ll take us next....full text |
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