Strange it is that Gliss managed to slip through the mainstream and critical net when they released their debut album Devotion Implosion last Autumn.  Strange because they have toured with such luminaries as BRMC, Smashing Pumpkins, The Boxer Rebellion, Editors and, on the surface, their feedback heavy, easy on the ears tunes would appear tailor made for a public that has fallen so heavily for other similar grubby shoegaze-y artists like The Big Pink and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart in recent times.

Album openers ‘Morning Light’ and ’29 Acts Of Love’ are two definitive shoulda-been-hits, the latter especially with its lashing guitar riffs, and instantly recognisable drawled chorus of 'ready or not here we come/ its 29’s/it’s 29'.  It’s a song built around the chorus; in fact, the whole song is one riotous sing-a-long.

Other than these, ‘Sleep’ sounds a LOT like The Big Pink, and is a moody little lo-fi love song with a hypnotic swirling vocal that feels like its dragging you down a dark meandering, twisting river towards an ending that will eventually be pleasant, but will scare the shit out of you until you get there .  Dodgy overbaked analogies aside, its a fine track. 

‘Beauty’ brings to mind the best of nineties US indie,  a kind of (heavily) scaled down Wannadies.  It’s catchy as fuck, and should be the soundtrack to a particularly emotional scene in a shit American comedy-drama that girls like and their boyfriends pretend not to.  This is meant as a compliment.

‘Sad Eyes’ has that most vital of all musical components, a communal ‘ooh-ooh’, which means I automatically like it.  Chuck in the rawk guitars and you’ve got a live cracker right there.  Given all these positive aspects one wonders why they didn’t break through more; perhaps an overcrowded scene playing this kinda thing, though perhaps a little less poppy?  Who knows.  Regardless; if late nights, huge fuzzy guitar riffs, fuzzier vocals and frequent arm-in-the-air moments are your kind of thing, Gliss should be on your radar.

Posted In They Shoulda Been Huge, Jan 07 2010. Words - David