JoobieSeaz - Pitch Black (The Singles) (Pyrrhic Victory)

Based in Lille, France, this duo of Lola (singer/guitar/bass) and Alex (bass/guitar) first met at party, then became neighbors, and later worked in video production at the Academy of Cinema; since 2020, they’ve been releasing singles of their narcoleptic, sinuous dreampop, a dozen of which are collected here. Behind each song’s deliberate, off-kilter bass lines, wobbly, twisting guitars, and nonchalant drums, Lola delivers her mumbled, inebriated, English-sung vocals like she’s just downed a double dose of NyQuil. Yet somehow, she always manages to sound seductive and hypnotic; on the Low-evoking slowcore of “Pitch Black,” for example, she recalls a despondent and anxious Bjork, while the Velvet Underground slink of “GGPG” finds her in a Hinds-like playful mood. Though never straying from their distinct style, subtle variations in tone and temperament become apparent over repeat listens (for example, the gently skipping beats and harp-like guitars that accentuate the rain-sodden “In My Opinion”), making Pitch Black feel like a bleary-eyed night of bar-hopping after the buzz kicks in. (pyrrhicvictoryrecordings.com)

“Pitch Black”

“GGPG”

“In My Opinion”