Does WL stand for White Light? I know that we are supposed to pronounce it as “Well”, but the acronym would surely do well to describe this group's immaculate wall of noise. When the Velvet Underground made White Light, they were actually going for White Heat; instead, WL cools it down. Their White Light feels like a Swedish hot spring during the 24-hour Arctic day. The Portland group sounds polished and experienced, which is what we would expect from this threesome who have done time in Blouse, Houndstooth, and Sparks, but they still manage to make the experience of their songs weightless. On “Impermanent”, the A-side to the single coming out on Death Party Records, vocalist Misty Mary lives up to her name, floating her ethereal sensibility over the top of a driving, drum-centered mix. The drums, as well, open the B-side “No Escape” with a three-second blast before setting into a more sedate and relaxed rhythm; this gives the song a slightly harsher sensibility, but the variation is welcome and distinctive in shoegaze, which is a genre that sometimes tends towards homogeneity. Listen here before you pick up the 7-inch, and check out the endearing video-collage their friend made as a bonus.
