Crushed

The third album from Philly shoegaze outfit Highspire, 2025s Crushed hits you from the start like an emotional sonic tidal wave. Co-produced with John Loring of the Fleeting Joys, the album finds bandmates EJ Hagen (multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer) and Alex White (vocalist, instrumentalist, and co-songwriter) joined by singer/instrumentalist Laura Watling (the Autocollants and Tears Run Rings) and drummer Guy Sanders. The result is a big, vibrant production that builds nicely upon their past work while also pushing at the edges of their sound. The album opens in bold fashion with the driving title track, where a low, rocket-engine bassline pushes angelic synths and screaming white noise guitar -- and thats just the transfixing instrumental intro, one that lasts for a good minute before the vocals even kick in. It has a thrilling widescreen shoegaze energy that bands like My Blood Valentine and Ride famously perfected in the early 90s and which Highspire have long been torchbearers for and continue to be on Crushed. Cuts like "Ghosts Forever," "Only Malice Haunts You," and "Youre so High" are majestically romantic anthems full of shimmering vocal harmonies and skydiving electric guitars. Theres also a surprising blend of influences running through the songs, as on "She Talks in Maybees," which sounds like a classic Stone Roses song redone by the Jesus and Mary Chain. While there are plenty of memorable pop hooks on Crushed, the album has a strong centrifugal emotional pull, one that draws you deep within and begs to be heard in one extended listen. ~ Matt Collar