Album Review: Tijuana Taxi – Mirages

The debut full-length LP from Ontario’s Tijuana Taxi, Mirages, finds new and exciting spaces between shoegaze and noise rock.

Wander/Mirages initially layers on atmospheric reverb and Americana motifs in the arrangement, its slow build and explosive nature is a stunning introduction to what the album has in store.  

On Dru, you are hit with the full force of what Tijuana Taxi are capable of: the buzz of shoegaze is present, but the pace and near-relentless power of the track, even in its quietest moments, borders on overwhelming.

I wouldn’t directly label Mirages as a concept piece, but on tracks like Sonder and Muck, the latter with an intro reminiscent of Espers, Tijuana Taxi play as much with the absence of sound and construct as their presence.

In that kind of absence most of all is where the band give themselves free rein to explore what their music means – the pairing and anti-respite of Ostinato 1 and Ostinato 2 are like brief glimpses into the duality that flows through the album’s core identity.

I played this album loud in my office but also on headphones in the middle of a busy day, and Mirages worked wonderfully in both settings. Let the music wash over you in waves of aural bliss, or lose yourself in fragments of silence that allow its eleven songs to sculpt an escape pod from your thoughts – either is a valid approach and an indicator of how versatile the album is; and how much space it gives the listener to reimagine what they hear for themselves.

Loose comparisons to My Bloody Valentine and Chapterhouse could be made, but equally you could file Mirages next to a cosmic version of Boris or Sunn O))) – loud and heavy, sure, but blessed with moments of silence and light that make it something special, versatile and quietly visionary.

Mirages is out now to download on Bandcamp, where it’s also available on vinyl, and can be streamed on Spotify. Learn more about the album, the official release show on the 31^st of January, on Facebook and Instagram.