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Taken from POST-TRASH (Oct 26, 2023)
Queen Serene - "Queen Serene" LP | Post-Trash Premiere
by dan goldin (@post_trash_)
Queen Serene - "Queen Serene" LP coverart |
There's very little about Queen Serene's music that suggests the band began as a solo bedroom pop project. While the roots were laid by Sarah Ronan (guitar, vocals) in seclusion, the Austin based band truly began life when expanding to a quartet - Ronan soon joined by Matt Galceran (guitar, vocals, keys), Riley Corcoran (drums, synth), and Dale Pohly (bass). Throughout their debut album, the band sound fully realized, dipping between dream pop, post-punk, krautrock, shoegaze, and fuzzy indie rippers, each song offering something new. There's cohesion in spades, but the self-titled record feels like an unraveling of ideas, expanding as it plays, providing a welcome sense of dynamics amid punchy hooks and unpredictable turns. There's a pulse to Queen Serene's gorgeous carnage, but the band aren't opposed to letting that pulse skip a beat in favor of shifting textures.
Ronan and Galceran split vocal duties, each offering their own flare, whether they're digging into post-punk aerobatics ("Hermit") or more shimmering pop-gaze melodic ease ("Close To The Ground"), it's easy to get wrapped up in their world. There's just enough sense of hypnotic pull that keeps us glued to what might come next, from the mesmerizing and mechanical ("Debt Collector") to the feel of primal boogie ("Isengard"). The band explore motorik beats with surfy hooks ("Double Life") and grungy dissonant psych twang ("2020") while maintaining a sparkling sense of clarity, everything rings in its own place, clear of muddied production or endless layering. For all the focus on dynamics, there's a hint of minimalism that comes from the simple fact that Queen Serene are playing together and not pushing against one another.
Speaking about the album, Ronan shared:
"This record captures the moment in time when Queen Serene evolved from a bedroom solo project into a fully formed collective. With our widely varied tastes in music, we like to think this album is a bit of a ride with each song taking a different direction. It's the first release that Matt has brought songs to the table and we have truly collaborated on writing new material together. It's also the first recording with Dale on bass, rounding out the Florida native lineup. Tracked in one night, the recordings were all done in house by our very own drummer Riley at the rehearsal/studio space he used to work at. Riley also provided the album art, keeping the true DIY ethos alive. This album was a labor of love and we are just stoked that anyone is listening at all."
The band celebrate their album's release on October 27th at Antone's in Austin with Ulrika Spacek and Holy Wave.
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