It’s tempting to define the shoegaze revival based on the music that came before it. The “revival” of it all almost demands a sort of navel-gazing nostalgia. For newer groups, there seems to be a desire to not be tied down by an association with historical counterparts, making the shoegaze label as inevitable as their rejection of it. When Jacksonville-based Leaving Time released its EP II in 2022, the cassette’s description said their sound “[takes] the singular ‘shoegaze’ descriptor out of the picture.” Of course, the word shoegaze appears twice in their description.
Leaving Time’s new release pairs that EP with one released a year earlier, I. The combined effort, fittingly titled I + II, showcases a band that both very much belongs in that shoegaze conversation and understandably pushes back on a genre that carries nearly four decades of associations and history that alludes to inspirations but doesn’t tell their story.
That push-pull is felt within the first 25 seconds of the album-opening “Stay.” It’s a song that wouldn’t be out of place on a Jesus and Mary Chain project—inviting the listener to enter a fuzzy aural excursion with explosive, churning guitars caked with TV static distortion and a snowstorm of reverb. Reed Cothren’s vocals—even in the record’s more tender moments, come secondary to that sound—tucked under the band’s ballistic drums and songwriting that, mixed differently, might more readily divulge their grunge and metal heritage. Despite being intentionally buried in the mix, Cothren’s voice feels at peace riding shotgun as a melodic counterpoint to the harsher elements of their arrangements. Thinking of the vocals as an instrument and not a delivery device for meaning through lyrics may bring listeners closer to the heart of the album, as the difficult-to-discern lyrics often feel beside the point.
Leaving Time’s wall of sound sticks around in “Bloom,” the album’s second track, which might best divulge the varied interests that surface in the band’s compositions. “Bloom” makes like March, coming in like a lion and out like a lamb. But, at 3:37, it’s one of the collection’s longest missives. The short bursts of each song, the boiling chord progressions, and the bombastic drums make it easy to draw a line from Leaving Time’s brand of shoegaze to the deep metal, hardcore, and punk roots of Jacksonville—think Evergreen Terrace, Cold, Yellowcard, Shinedown, et al—or Florida at large—Poison the Well, Shai Hulud, Hot Water Music. That’s not to say that I + II could be mistaken for Burned Alive By Time—or that metal and shoegaze have never met—but there’s a connection that does not sound tangential. It’s part of I + II’s DNA.
However, those heavier tendencies aren’t so strong that they push Leaving Time into a relentless fortissimo. The brazen energy of “Stay,” which runs into the first half of “Bloom,” subsides and eases into a more melancholy and subdued “Yellow” on the third track. I + II is consistent in its sound, but transitions like this bring texture, ensuring it doesn’t fall into the fair or unfair criticism so often lobbed at shoegaze bands: monotony. Nonetheless, the band is in its wheelhouse when the sound is heaving with space-filling guitar, empty hallway reverb, and drums that channel the rebellious ennui of early ‘90s grunge.
The fact that I + II is two EPs smashed together won’t be lost on listeners. The EPs are left in the same order as their original releases, with II sitting in the album’s second half. While it doesn’t sound disjointed, there is a clear divide between the EPs, which sound complete but separate. The choice makes sense, presenting the releases as something of a historical artifact. Yet, the album grows into the latter EP with short, energetic sonic statements that pull more firmly on the thread of Leaving Time’s ‘00s metal and rock leanings. “End,” the first track from II and the sixth on I + II, bridges the divide between the EPs with a return of maximalist guitars, fulfilling the boisterous promises of “Stay.” It’s followed by “RDO,” which may most clearly show Leaving Time’s heavy exuberance.
I + II offers a complete statement where the highs are brief, but the lows are few. Still, the record’s punch, the promise of what comes next, sits in II’s four-song run, which lasts just over nine minutes. The album culminates with “Slip,” a dynamic, thesis-statement track where the guitars don’t just churn but find melody alongside Cothren’s vocals. These “early” recordings show a band wearing its influences on its sleeve. Yet, like so many bands lumped into the shoegaze revival, Leaving Time doesn’t feel like they wants to revive anything. Instead, I + II sounds like a freshly formed group trying to make its own statement, expanding on a sonic conversation started by predecessors, reveling in the rawness of songwriting that exudes the energy of its live performances.
