Veteran psychedelic shoegazers, The High Violets, release B-Sides & Rarities, a showcase of their path from their early days and their formation in 1998, to the consummation of their dreampop sound which came in a very steady manner through the course of five full lengths, a few EPs and compilation appearances.
The Hight Violets formed after the breakup of Portland band The Bella Low, and released their first EP, Dream Away, in 1999. The band released music on Reverb Records, Comet Rock and Saint Marie, and their sound has been parallelized to acts such as Lush, The Sundays and The Cocteau Twins, bringing forth a lot of dreampop airiness and atmospherics by way of layered guitars and mellow vocals.
Album opener, Up Towards, finds The High Violets brimming with youthful vibrancy, delivering a grittier sound which harks back to shoegaze's earlier days. The recently unearthed is a fine example of the quartet's gleaming energy, and provides a good reason to champion them as one the genre's stronger lesser celebrated acts.
The High Violets are Kaitlyn ni Donovan (vocals, guitar), Clint Sargent (guitar), Colin Sheridan (bass) and Luke Strahota (drums).
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