Parallel - Flooded

Parallel - Painkiller - Official Video

Parallel Band

Hailing from Oakland’s vibrant indie music scene, Parallel draws from post-punk's introspective depths and shoegaze's ethereal beauty. They seamlessly blend brooding vibes with airy qualities, creating a lush yet austere sound. Their tracks, inspired by The Chameleons and Slowdive, build into complex, multilayered compositions, offering a modern take on dream pop, slowcore, and post-punk.

Formed in 2019, Parallel began writing in their drummer Maria's basement during the pandemic. With a history in the DIY scene, they recorded their debut cassette with Jack Shirley in 2021, receiving acclaim with lead single “Orchid.” They quickly gained recognition, sharing stages with various bands and touring the West Coast. Their live debut included opening for Mount Eerie at the 2023 SF Noise Pop festival.

Parallel Sound

Parallel stands out by avoiding distortion pedals, favoring clean tones with chorus and delay effects, highlighting songwriting over typical shoegaze effects. Their music evokes deep emotions through dynamic sonic environments. The song "Blister" exemplifies this, using elemental imagery to explore loss and possibility, with layered guitar riffs creating a hypnotic loop.

Parallel - Painkiller Single

From its inception, "Painkiller" transports the listener to a surreal dreamscape where reality merges with fantasy and inhibitions dissolve. The hypnotic rhythm pulsates with primal energy, drawing the audience into a trance-like state where the boundaries between pleasure and pain, desire and restraint, begin to blur. The evocative lyrics poignantly explore the complexities of queer intimacy, delving into the delicate balance between vulnerability and empowerment.

"Painkiller" released on June 12th, 2024 and to date has more than 14K views on YouTube. 

Painkiller Lyrics

glow, boy
melt the fear for me
lay your body in the stream

painkiller
i like the feeling of you

deeper, a little
rearrange me
let go of power
i know a place where we can fall
into another flooded scene

show me every injury
make me believe it
i will whet the edges of misery
‘til change is all that i can see

i like the feeling of you

Parallel - Flooded

Parallel recorded "Flooded," a six-track mini-album, at Atomic Garden Studios, set for release in July 2024 on Play Alone Records and Cherub Dream Records. The album expands their sound with dynamic structures and intricate vocal harmonies, exploring intense emotions and transitions. "Blister" is the debut single, available on Bandcamp, Spotify, and other platforms from May 15th.

“Flooded” 12”/CS out 7.10.24 on Play Alone Records and Cherub Dream Records.

parallel is:

Estella: guitar
David: guitar and vocals
Krissy: bass and vocals
Maria: drums

recorded, mixed, and mastered by jack shirley at the atomic garden, oakland, ca
art and layout by alix beyer, lex lucca, and parallel

From the Band:

How did you all meet? How did Parallel start?

Estella met Krissy through our mutual friend Kimiya, who she was living with at the time, and we just hit it off and started hanging out.

Why did you choose Parallel as a name?

I wish we could remember coming up with the name more! It was originally a play on the interlocking guitar style we cribbed from bands like the Chameleons, but we also like the simple, stark nature of the word.

Reviews

Razorcake

"Starting off with an Interpol-meets-The-Chameleons sound, this is a perfect dream pop gem. The male/female vocal harmonies add a ton to these songs, the male vocals handling the drone while the female vocals cover more of an ethereal sound. The music doesn’t leap past mid to slow tempos and drawn-out guitar patterns. Great production and vibe. I could see this band pairing well with the likes of DIIV, Beach Fossils, or Castlebeat."

Thoughts Action Vision

"Parallel is an Oakland-based band that immediately blew me away with their ideas and musicianship. I was immediately stunned by their sound since I heard the introductory composition, but the remainder of the material is equally good.
This self-titled EP release carries six excellent songs, enhanced by the elements borrowed from many complimentary genres. Also, it’s not so easy to define their primary music direction because Parallel combines several genres at once. Perhaps shoegaze comes to mind at first. However, other ingredients like dream pop, coldwave, new wave, indie, and post-punk are lurking in the mix. You’ll have difficulties defining their music, but there’s no doubt you’ll love how they combine shoegaze with post-punk, dream pop with coldwave, and, after all, some sonic movements that are one of the main properties of contemporary indie music. It’s nearly mindblowing how all these elements work together in harmony throughout the entire material without spoiling each other. It is the main reason why this cassette differs from other releases presented on the shoegaze scene nowadays.

The band also paid a lot of attention to aesthetics. Each composition differs, and you may hear how the eighties, nineties, and contemporary scenes inspired these musicians to write, compose, and record such an outstanding EP. Still, their self-titled EP sounds compact from beginning to end, and you’ll get the impression that you listened to one longevous composition with countless segments and themes. You will fall in love with this material if you love reverby, clean-sounding chord progressions, moderate rhythmic sequences, and dual vocals. Parallel is a highly recommended band for those profoundly into echoic, melancholic shoegaze enhanced with elements borrowed from other complementary genres."

Queen City Sounds and Arts

"The gently cascading guitar riffs of Parallel’s single “Drench” from its 2022 self-titled album hits the ear with shades of Slowdive and A Shoreline Dream with a hint of more lo-fi production. Its drifty structure and dual vocal melodies are at times reminiscent of The Prids or Molchat Doma especially in the way the performances feel elegant and intuitive. Guitar melodies strike high and descend to land in a hypnotic loop that carries you through a bittersweet memory that haunts you from a significant and transitional point in your life when memories made have real resonance and endurance for the long term and become part of your identity. There’s something about these kinds of memories that feel special and significant in often elusive ways yet Parallel captures the emotional energy of them well."

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