New Music: LiS – Reach

It’s rather impressive when a band debuts seems to come out of nowhere with a track that is so fully formed and quite flawless as this.

Reach is the first single from Austin-based LiS, who have tagged the song as “40% shoegaze, 40% dreampop, 10% Midwest emo, 10% soul/rnb.” It’s certainly not formulaic, however, even as you’ll hear the presence of some genre-defining bands.

LiS bring an attitude to shoegaze that breaks through in the occasionally sharp lead guitar line, and there is a muscular presence to the drums throughout. The vocals glide above them and the low rumble of the bass line, but don’t assume you’ll be floating away on candy clouds here. LiS have cited DIIV and Mazzy Star as guide points for the track, and that is a fair comparison, as the hypnotic abstractions of the Mazzy Star can be heard in friendly rivalry with the alt-rock-facing dream indie of DIIV.

However, I’d connect Reach, which will also feature on the upcoming LiS EP, with another two foundational bands: Cocteau Twins and The Sundays. Having a vocalist that has the folkish indie innocence of Harriet Wheeler can only be a winner, as they seamlessly transform into the sometimes-fiery regions of the Cocteau Twins’ back catalogue. The latter band didn’t shy away from challenging the listener and each other, despite the modern focus on their more cinematic songs. LiS find themselves in good company here in that regard: neither coy nor confrontational, letting their music do the talking.

Reach can be streamed on Spotify and SoundCloud. LiS are gearing up to perform live in the coming months – for news on that as well as EP updates, connect with the band on Instagram.