Julie’s debut album my anti-aircraft friend marks a significant entry in the ongoing shoegaze revival. In an era when a number of shoegaze tracks have unexpectedly gained viral traction—Wisp’s “Your face,” Flyingfish’s “wonder if you care,” and quannnic’s “life imitates life” being notable examples—julie were ahead of the trend. Their 2020 single “flutter” became an underground sensation, amassing 36 million Spotify streams and nearly 3 million YouTube views. With its chaotic blend of caustic guitars and hypnotic vocals, the song positioned julie as a band unafraid to experiment with intensity and disarray.
Now, four years later, the band prepares to unveil their first full-length album on none other than Atlantic Records. It’s rare to see a shoegaze group sign to a major label for their debut, which raises questions about authenticity in an industry where many artists seem to chase trends. However, my anti-aircraft friend quickly dispels any doubts about julie’s intentions. The record doesn’t just adhere to the shoegaze genre’s familiar tropes but reimagines and disrupts them with spontaneity and reckless abandon.
The lead single, “clairbourne practice,” epitomizes this unpredictability. The song alternates between gentle and destructive, a dynamic that runs throughout the entire album. Julie constructs and deconstructs walls of sound, keeping the listener engaged with sudden shifts and surprising twists. This back-and-forth mirrors their live performances, where the band members—vocalist and guitarist Keyan Pourzand, drummer Dillon Lee, and vocalist and bassist Alexandria Elizabeth—create a palpable sense of being immersed in their music. As Pourzand noted in an interview, “It feels like you’re inside of it,” and that immersive quality is central to my anti-aircraft friend.
Julie’s roots are in Orange County, where they began playing shows in high school before the pandemic curtailed live music. During that time, Pourzand and Elizabeth enrolled at the Southern California Institute for Architecture, and the band also began identifying as an art collective. Their visual artistry complements their music, with Pourzand doing sculpture work and both Elizabeth and Lee involved in painting and illustration. For a long time, they carefully curated their image, avoiding posting pictures of themselves, and this deliberate mystique adds to their eerie, otherworldly aesthetic.
The album is full of moments that highlight julie’s unpredictable, almost cinematic sound. “catalogue,” the opening track, shifts between grungy cacophony and tense, quiet moments. Elizabeth’s haunting vocals set the tone as she contemplates her personal fears, while the subsequent songs dive deeper into darker emotions like malaise and envy. Tracks like “feminine adornments” feature Elizabeth at her most intense, delivering lyrics like “I’ll defile, I’ll be clean/ I’ll be mean and raw” over a backdrop of volatile, eruptive instrumentation.
The band’s ability to manipulate tension is one of the album’s standout qualities. “i’ll cook my own meals” starts with Pourzand’s detached vocals, but it soon builds into a wave of guitars that drown out his voice, creating a soundscape that feels both menacing and mesmerizing. Similarly, “piano instrumental” begins slowly before accelerating into a frantic crescendo, only to wind back down again—until it unexpectedly picks up once more, leaving the listener on edge.
The album’s grand finale, “stuck in a car with angels,” is perhaps the most powerful example of this dynamic tension. It starts slow, but the mounting anticipation is almost unbearable, making the eventual storm of sound all the more satisfying. Elizabeth’s incantatory vocals only add to the song’s emotional intensity, blending a sense of madness with longing as she sings, “I want to follow you home.”
Ultimately, my anti-aircraft friend proves that julie is not merely riding the wave of the shoegaze revival but leading it with a fully realized artistic vision. Their music is dark, thrilling, and immersive, pulling the listener into a space that feels both volatile and carefully crafted. It’s a testament to their talent that, despite their major label debut, julie remains rooted in the kind of authenticity and artistic integrity that sets them apart from other bands in the genre. They are a group with staying power, committed to evolving their sound and creating music that challenges and captivates in equal measure.
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