Formed in the aftermath of the breakup of Sweet Bulbs, the Brooklyn-based quintet of Heaven’s Gate released a 7 inch single last year, which (quite naturally) showed a change of sonic direction for the new project – the focus being on a trippy shoegazer rock. The band’s full-length debut Transmuting will see a September 24th release, and the album’s first single “Drone” will likely remind you of the great shoegazer bands of the 80s. Thanks to their densely layered and jagged sound, the band will probably remind some of you of the Stone Roses and the Jesus and Mary Chain. Although, strangely enough, the blistering guitar riff fed through additional layers of reverb remind me a bit of Echo and the Bunnymen – perhaps Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here-era. 

However, lead vocalist Jess Paps has a powerful voice – the sort of voice that echoes that of Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano, Siouxsie Sioux and others. She’s a force to be reckoned with.