If you want to know the difference between dream-pop and shoegaze, then all you need to do is give “goodbye,” the new one from Denver soundscapers Blackberry Crush a spin or two. Not only does the song transition from one genre to the other, and do so in no uncertain terms, it then goes far beyond even the latter’s sonorous boundaries, spiraling off into intense hard rock realms and possibly even skirting the fringes of the squalling metal-sphere. That’s a lot of sonic ground to cover in the time it takes to soft boil an egg.
But cover it, they do. As the song opens, we are greeted by spacious and shimmering sonic understatement, but these are soon joined by shards and salvos of abrasive guitar. In and out of the two sounds, the band is happy to ebb and flow until they fully commit to a shattering tsunami of a sound and spend the last two minutes of the song cutting a swathe through the musical landscape.
Throw in a false ending followed by an even more ear-bleeding and sensational return, not to mention the sort of lysergic and dreamlike vocal that such music requires, one sounding hazy and welcoming whether competing with the early charm or the later charge of the song, and you have one helluva record!
