During the mid-nineties, most individuals who were inspired by the UK Shoegaze movement's sound continued experimenting with distortion, however there were some groups who incorporated different elements with the reining noise coming from Great Britain.
Manhattan-based rockers Bowery Electric were somewhat known for a progressive sound from their first self-titled album released in 95, but it wasn't until a year later the band would incorporate an unusual element to the already-peaking grunge sound of that era. They took programmed drum and bass beats and infused their whirling ambient synths, grooved bass lines and soft, almost effortless vocal harmonies in tandem with this sound. Even in 2015, some of the beats sound almost outdated mainly due to their association with various styles like the 90s hip hop scene or the 80s new wave sound, but nonetheless it was a clever stray for the Shoegaze movement taking flight right behind other groups like Curve, The Boo Radleys Chapterhouse and others who used beats to backdrop behind the washed out guitars.
Bowery Electric released their sophomore album Beat in 1996 and the very first track, titled the same name of the album is a looming introduction to the band and establishes their unique mechanical style that functions throughout the rest of the album. Their style operates on two levels: the beats on one and the rest of the music on another. Atmospheric synths, guitar effects, repetitive droning bass lines, and soft, almost crisply monotoned vocals function separately from the beats because they do not follow the structured pattern. If anything, the beats serve as an enhancer more than anything else -- bringing the sound complete and establishes a sense of fullness. Their overall sound is constructed from these two puzzle pieces. Each their own enigma when isolated, containing oddly curved edges yet when pieced together the edges fit together creating a smooth edged single component.
This is perfectly exemplified in tracks like "Under the Sun," "Looped" and "Postscript" where the presence of beats are absent. While some might consider the first two merely transitions and the last an epic conclusion, they serve more purpose of leveling down to highlight the power of their collaborative sound that is the unison force behind the beats, guitars, bass and vocals on the other tracks.
Even the cover art displays an image of an interstate connector where two exits curve away from another yet possess the same shape. The album focuses heavily on the notion of dualities. Bowery Electric uses ambient sounds and guitar effects to convey dual contradictory emotions: that of a haunting but also calming feeling. They fluctuate as the album progresses and finishes with an epic return to minimalism. Certain tracks set a dream-like atmosphere of cloud floating, but others erase the cloud and directly cause a free-falling nightmarish mood. This is also heard in the band's lyrics when singer Martha Schwendener harmonizes in "Coming Down": Close your eyes, we're coming down. Close your eyes, we're coming down," almost to suggest the illusion of a figurative being falling in a nightmare. Even in the first track she softly exclaims:
"Words are just noise.
Words are only noise."
The repetition of this phrase is quite enigmatic the way it formulates the thought of words and even goes as far as to suggest a conversation in linguistics or semiotics. One could perceive it as a declaration of the flaws within the language and how there are holes within human beings' communicability. Perhaps the intention is to destroy meaning within lyrics in general. Maybe the band sees an over-romanticization of lyrics in the way people idolize the words over the music. The lyrics and music both contribute to open discourse and continue onward almost twenty years later proving to be more than just noise with a catchy beat.
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