The spectres of the late 1980s and early 1990s loom large over Heat-Ray’s debut, with the Calgary band diving headfirst into the cooler-than-cool sounds of first-wave shoegaze, alt-rock skronk and the dreamy slacker vocals that connected both genres. The first thing you’ll pick up on is the My Bloody Valentine influence, but the group also tosses Sonic Youth, Throwing Muses and Th’ Faith Healers into the blender, coming up with a syrupy mix of guitar goop goodness.
There’s nothing original about this music in the slightest, but if you can look past that and see it as a loving, scrupulous salvaging of record collector sounds from a decade past, then you’re in for a real cool time. The fretboard freak-outs on songs like “Oooh Yeah” and “Burn (Doubt)” probably slay faces live and, as album closers go, “Vampire Blues Part II” heads straight for the throat.
Heat-Ray plays Saturday, August 1 at The Palomino with Bikeland, Animal Names and Outdoor Miners.
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