Small Reactions Similar Phantoms cd

Small Reactions - Similar Phantoms cd

Small Reactions’ debut full-length album, Similar Phantoms, is a record of dark recesses viewed through a pop lens. It’s not common—rare, even—that such stream-of-consciousness, death-affected narratives become fodder for pop music, but that juxtaposition defines this record. This is a pop album, but these aren’t love songs. And that’s precisely the point.

Similar Phantoms contains pop songs from an alternative perspective, for the other side of the coin. Set atop a foundation of noisy guitars, droning organs, weird angles, and a hypnotic rhythm section, the songs become equally tangible and challenging.

As proof that the goal of Similar Phantoms is to subvert, the album opens with “Minibeasts and Ourselves,” a noisy, drone heavy eulogy, before moving on to “Terrorangles,” “Mt. Ogee,” “Hung From Wire” and other taught narratives. Told through an acutely aware perspective, these are the stories of bad dreams, nearly missed connections, debt, and a less than willing suspension of disbelief. Coming from a band firmly rooted in Atlanta, GA, these images create a unique Southern Gothic bent that reflects both the immediate surroundings in which the songs were written and recorded, and a long lineage of like-minded...