Central California shoegaze project dilute_calico98 remain an intriguing mystery in the current shoegaze realm . On ultra-luxe, a track whose experimental instincts immediately distinguish it within the genre, an 8-bit, video-game-like electronic sequence opens the song before dissolving into dreamier moments, noise and dense distortion.
Despite its more abrasive impulses, the track never loses its melodic center. A subtle pop sensibility remains concealed beneath the surface, holding the arrangement together even at its noisiest and most disorienting.
The tension between experimentation and accessibility gives the band their character. Familiar shoegaze elements are filtered through digital strangeness and a playful sense of construction, as dilute_calico98 are willing to test the genre’s boundaries without abandoning feeling. Their album VIRTUA is certainly worth exploring further.
ZR