Unlike just about every other band on earth, NOTHING is at its best when it closes itself off and spins into oblivion.
By nature, shoegaze bands often sound weighty and miserable, but Nothing's nine new songs unsurprisingly wear their grim nature on sleeve.
Everything that Nothing have recorded so far has been worthy of your attention; Dance On The Blacktop is no exception.
What initially feels like a watered-down sequel to a totally unique album reveals itself to be an impressive demonstration of dream-pop art brut.
On their third album, the Philadelphia shoegaze band’s tried-and-true arrangements are not terribly original, but they are deeply felt.
Dance on the Blacktop is not a new Nothing, it's just Nothing in new clothes, and it is probably a Smashing Pumpkins T-shirt.
Dance is best enjoyed when you accept its familiar pleasures - it bursts with pure deliverance, coming from a band that refuses to hang in life support.
By now, NOTHING has mastered the heavy shoegaze toolbox; Blacktop tweaks the style but doesn’t meaningfully depart from what the band has already accomplished.
On Dance On the Blacktop, NOTHING burrow into the filth and double down on the harsher elements of their sound, with mixed results.
Nothing’s moments of respite, whether dips in energy or detours into other bands’ music, never let Dance on the Blacktop become whole.
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