Shapeshift fizzles with the taut, energetic and emotive sound of early-90s shoegaze meets dream pop.
First impressions of vocalist Tiff’s husky performance evokes the feeling of Harriet Wheeler’s gorgeously brittle vocals for The Sundays, with a dash of the deadpan delivery of Sleeper’s Louise Jane Wener. And whilst those vocals continue to standout, Blanco Tranco feel like a complete package. Shapeshift opens with searing feedback that gives way to propulsive drums, infectious wandering bass and glittering guitars, creating a coherent and complete record.
Hailing from Melbourne, in addition to Tiff, Blanco Tranco are comprised of bassist Mark, guitarist Matt and Sophie on drums. Having formed in early 2020 and inspired by surf-rock and shoegaze, the four-piece only briefly got to play together live before the pandemic. Shapeshift came out of the ensuing lockdown, with recording happening between Melbourne’s lockdowns. Describing the track, Matt said:
“I wanted to go for a very 80s/90s grungy shoegaze feel for the track. I was listening to lots of DIIV, Duster, MBV and Beach Fossils when I wrote the guitar parts. The track was very fun to record, particularly the feedback during the intro. Before we recorded the song, we were intending for the track to go straight into the verse but during the session I could hear parts that had a bit of feedback, and it sounded really good. So good, in fact, that I thought we should make it the first thing you hear in the song.”