Today, the Boston-based post-punk outfit Looking Glass War ventured into a new type of sound, moving from the more glamorous style of their debut track, ‘Arrive!’, to a shoegaze-esque brand of music with the release of their latest track, titled ‘I Can Tell By The Cars’. The four-man army show their love and inspiration from late 1980s British music on the piece, creating a much more melancholic track than their aforementioned debut single.
Formed over a phone call on an otherwise boring day in late 2022, Looking Glass War may be a young band, but its members are grizzled veterans of the music industry, working with a wide variety of different bands and groups over their years, gaining a familiarity with the different genres that made up British music of the late 1980s that few others have. The phone call was placed by vocalist Goddamn Glenn, pairing up members such as guitarist Pete Zeigler, bassist Mike Ackley and drummer Tony Porter to form one of Boston’s most brilliant indie bands of the 2020s, who later debuted with ‘Arrive!’ in July 2023. Less than a month later, the band are adding a new single to their discography – ‘I Can Tell By The Cars’.
‘Arrive!’ and ‘I Can Tell By The Cars’ are two sides of the same coin, exemplifying different parts of the band members’ rich, multi genre production experience. While ‘Arrive!’ was a much more triumphant track, kicking down the door and announcing their debut to the world, ‘I Can Tell By The Cars’ is a much more downbeat, cynical track that reflects on the depressing state of the world, told through a story of car bumper stickers, and raises the question of whether to give up or to keep going. The beats of the two songs contrast eachother as well, with ‘Arrive!’ being much more energetic and frenzied, and ‘I Can Tell By The Cars’ being almost entirely shoegaze inspired, showing the band’s more melancholic side. Both tracks are worth lending your ears to – something you can do through the link below.
Check out Looking Glass War here (Linktree).
