So, what’s the cost of becoming nostalgic?
O’phantom delivers true indie, not through sounding like any of the greats of the last decade, but by allowing itself more legroom in its inspirations. Far too often, you find a band that tries so hard to emulate the magic of Two Door Cinema Club, Vampire Weekend, or any of the bands that were playing in our formative years that they forget that it’s no longer high school. There’s been growth since then, you’ve heard more sounds, and it’d be limiting to not admit to it.
That’s where the band’s single “Dreaming” lands, retaining the nostalgic hit through effective elements scattered throughout, like a cheeky synth riff that says hi at the start and down the line, in the midst of all the other directions the song is taken in. Self-described as art indie, the band knows what they are, and can communicate it on a song as well as they do their press releases. It’s a single that’s sure of its own identity, and doesn’t overcompensate at any point.
It’s true that the insistence of the genre on honoring and capturing what the big bands did made way for it to be hammered into the mainstream, but it also constricted its growth. If I told you the guitar on this track dared to do something in the realm of the treading, buildup riffs found in Black Midi or Swans, would you believe me? That’s already a unique perspective, and for all things considered, a deeper understanding of what drew people to the sounds we now consider nostalgic. “Dreaming” is the answer to a generation willing to build on top of what came, and lends itself to an experimentation that goes beyond familiar song structures. The song keeps you on your toes through steady drumming and instrumentation that ebbs and flows and always seems to have a restraint to it, a coolness that just makes you anticipate the next section. It might be uneasy for some, but the song has its own reward. It knows its roots, the things favored and unfavored by whatever was thrown under the indie umbrella, and yet, wants to be more.
Written by Charlotte Lacambra
