Whitelined. A Shoreline Dream

Colorado band A Shoreline Dream finds itself on this blog for the first time since 2020. It released its eighth album last week, the second you find here. On 'Melting' I wrote the album came in two flavours, tranquil and pummelling. My first impression of Whitelined is that the album is more uniform. From there the story only starts. Whitelined is full of atmosphere and there are hidden, dark recesses everywhere in which anything can lurk to surprise or scare you.

A Shoreline Dream is a duo, Ryan Policky & Erik Jeffries. They write all the songs together, with the exception of the three (see below). Policky and Jeffries are in the band since its inception in 2005. Both are guitarists who have seen drummers and bassists come and go through the years.

The name Mark Gardener pops up here, almost as in where doesn't it. It seems like there's not a band in the world, wanting to recreate the music somewhere between alternative rock, shoegaze and 80s doom and gloom, not wanting to work with him. And the man is riding high waves with his own revived band Ride once again as well. His work ethic must be prolific. You can hear the result in the single 'Hollow Crown' and two other songs, that are credited to Policky and Gardener.

Listening to Whitelined it is obvious that a lot more than guitar playing is going on. From keyboards to synths and electric pianos come by, creating broad soundscapes over which Policky can sing his lyrics. Take 'Written In Dust'. The song has what could well be programmed drums, over which broadly spread out synths sound. The drums are inventive and solid, propping up the wavy gravy synths that spread out like early morning mist over a field. The vocals are somewhat psychedelic as well. Is there even a guitar? Even when listening closely, I doubt it, but there could be a magical effect on one hiding it for me in plain sight.

Promo photo: Ryan Policky

The music A Shoreline Dream presents here starts in the 1980s. It is the band's interpretation of a song like 'Love Like Blood' with a lot of synths added. Add the downcast side of a band like Tears for Fears, e.g. 'Mad World'. The electronic effects mix with the analogue guitars, where the electronics often win out, also because of the treatment many songs receive. The result is wafts of guitars coming by like is shown in abundance in 'The Dream'.

The result is on the one hand far from happy music. A Shoreline Dream is not in the world to put a large smile on your face. On the other hand, it does allow you to dig into what it presents. What is it I'm hearing? What is it exactly what I'm hearing? The band is not afraid of throwing in an instrumental, where the guitars play a huge soundscape with a huge bass playing the lead part. 'Lost Of The Words' is a befitting title. Again, what is happening exactly in the background?

With Whitelined A Shoreline Dream presents an album that musically is fully in the past. The 1980s mix of music is transposed into the twenties. By mixing the sound of a few different bands from the era A Shoreline Dream manages to give its own interpretation of things that were and are still here because of an album like Whitelined. and, successfully so.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Whitelined here:

https://ashorelinedream.bandcamp.com/album/whitelined