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New Wallflower: “Nowhere”

Note: I’m in Seattle for the next few days, which means posts might be less frequent than usual…especially accounting for the less-than-stellar wi-fi in my room.

Despite all the trends present in Japanese indie rock…how quickly scenes appear and vanish, how different non-Japanese acts end up being massive influences for stretches of time (today: Mac DeMarco)…indie-pop persists, rarely changing but always around. Osaka’s Wallflower do it prettier than most, avoiding the messy edges that often define the style in favor of shiny melodies and clear vocals. “Nowhere,” there newest single via Fastcut Records, highlights that polish well. It’s a slowly unfolding number, the mid-tempo guitar playing topped off by keyboard notes, the whole thing bathing in melancholy (“and get on a train going nowhere” goes the chorus…this is some defeated stuff). Listen above.