Subterranea Collective, the loose-knit local conglomerate behind recent local releases such as Night Idea, Navi, Freaky J And The Bears, and many more, have spent recent months mostly in hibernation. However, in the last couple of weeks, they’ve returned to the scene in a big way with a new series of splits between local bands, entitled Between The Two.
Subterranea Collective, the loose-knit local conglomerate behind recent local releases such as Night Idea, Navi, Freaky J And The Bears, and many more, have spent recent months mostly in hibernation. However, in the last couple of weeks, they’ve returned to the scene in a big way with a new series of splits between local bands, entitled Between The Two. Last Friday saw the release of the second volume in this series, featuring new songs by Way Shape Or Form and Fight Cloud, two local bands that both exist somewhere in the vaguely-defined realm known as math rock.
Way Shape Or Form head up the split with a smooth instrumental tune entitled “Frequent Flower,” which contains a mix of live and programmed drumbeats, as well as a series of lovely melodies created by alternating, intertwining lead guitar and keyboard parts. Bandleader Troy Gatrell, originally the sole member of the group, mentions that guitarist Will Hooper collaborated on the tune’s composition, and that he’s “very happy with how it turned out.” Way Shape Or Form also recently added new bassist Devin Grubbs, who replaces outgoing member Reid LaPierre of Houdan The Mystic, Night Idea, and Tigerlamp (so you’ll still hear plenty from Reid). You can catch the new lineup of Way Shape Or Form live at The Camel on Sunday, May 18, with The Dawn Drapes and Dirty Paws. For more info, click here.
Fight Cloud‘s contribution to Between The Two Vol. 2 is entitled “Thraldom,” and it features some lovely vocals from lead guitarist Justin Stuit. The song lives up to its math-rock billing with some surprising stops and starts, and calls the best material by Pinback to mind during its quieter moments. There are some loud parts too, though, and they’re what really gives “Thraldom” its punch. Fans of late-90s midwestern emo bands like American Football–which are really coming back into vogue of late–will certainly dig this song’s dramatic crescendos. We don’t have any info about upcoming Fight Cloud gigs, so for now you’ll have to content yourself with this four-minute slice of new music, but it’s a name-your-price download from Bandcamp, so feel free to slap it onto your iPod and loop it to your heart’s content. Download both sides of Between The Two Vol. 2 from the Subterranea Collective Bandcamp page, or stream them below:
This makes two volumes of the Between The Two series from Subterranea Collective that have been released in the past six weeks, so the crew is definitely throwing themselves back into things with full force, and we’ll hopefully hear more from them soon. Read about Between The Two Vol. 1, a split between Lotus Grid and Tigerlamp, in last month’s Sounds Of RVA column, and keep track of what Subterranea Collective is up to at their website, subterraneacollective.com.
