Beliefs’ “Leaper”: Some of the best shoegaze since the 90s

by Susan Shelton

Fuzzy and vague, Beliefs’ new album Leaper exceeds the mark and creeps across the floor of any room. With evidence of Sonic Youth as an influence, Leaper is a little more fluid and less gravelly than raw shoegaze. It goes down like liquid bronze and settles in like cotton ice crystals.

Occasionally, the album drifts into beach goth territory before making cursory turns back into full-blown sink-into-the-carpet noise of dream pop. This group successfully channels the most prominent shoegaze of the early 90s with the dedication and grind of a band on a larger label.

Leaper sets the mood immediately and flows seamlessly from song to song, carrying the same mood and tones throughout, with little variations that are only noticeable in the discreet world of this kind of blurry music. There is nothing boring about this album. In fact, the album climaxes several times and stays at full noise to last the night.

Extra praise goes to the last track, the only one that actually breaks the flow of the album: “Swooner”. After a mellow transition out of the song before it, “Swooner” builds back up in a hauntingly beautiful way. Like the ending of a good movie, it’s important to keep the album’s finale a discovery for the listener. It is grandiose, stand-alone, and fades away when it’s rubbed in correctly.

Beliefs have always dabbled in creating authentic 90s noise, and they had a great track record with their 2013 self-titled album and contribution to the Hand Drawn Dracula tribute to Nirvana. Leaper is set for release on November 13th.