Words From A Wishing Well＜Benadryl Pink Vinyl＞

Over the course of a trio of EPs, Brooklyns Shower Curtain expanded from the solo project of singer/songwriter Victoria Winter to a quartet, and from stark tape recordings to much lusher, distortion-infused tracks that traverse shoegaze, grungier rock, warmer dream pop, and slowcore. Together with Winters yearning, dissatisfied sentiments -- sometimes airily melodic, sometimes conversational -- this formulation hits its stride on their debut album, words from a wishing well. It marks the bands debut for the Fire Talk label. The record opens with the strings-enhanced "benadryl man," a song inspired by nightmares and set against dark, 90s-derived indie rock. Its dramatic call and response between Winters somewhat girlish if annoyed vocals and guitar-and-drum clamor illustrates fears of someone else being in the house when shes not there. Anxieties also come to the fore on songs like the trippier "bedbugs" ("Burn it all down"), which alternates sections of haze and sludge, and "starpower" ("Makes me wanna go back into hiding"), a slightly math-ier song that incorporates heavy static and playground noise. However, on words from a wishing well, even a song with a title like "wish u well" one of the albums catchier entries, is about a betrayal and breakup. Consisting of eight songs and an interlude, the debut feels a little on the short side, but where it goes, it goes deep and with an attention to detail that delivers bang for the buck. Closer "edgar" leaves listeners on a messy shoegaze note of dread that comes with the knowledge that someone wants to leave when you want them to stay. ~ Marcy Donelson