Parallel - Band Links

Bandcamp: paralleloakland.bandcamp.com
Instagram: @paralleldreaming
Facebook: facebook.com/paralleloakland

Pre-order link:

https://playalonerecords.com/products/parallel-flooded

High Resolution Photo: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2525/5672/files/Parallel_Band_Photo_-_Painkiller_Single_-_Tash_de_Valois.jpg
Photo Credit: Tash de Valois

Single Cover: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2525/5672/files/painkiller_single_art.jpg

Parallel - "Painkiller" Single

Official Music Video for "Painkiller" directed, edited, and shot by Sepi Mashiahof and Ricky Marler.

On their upcoming album Flooded, Parallel continues to evolve their hypnagogic
sound, pairing the introspective depth of post-punk with the ethereal allure of shoegaze. Hailing from the vibrant indie and DIY punk scene of Oakland, California, Parallel's origins are steeped in a rich musical heritage. Their music is a study in contrasts, seamlessly integrating heavy, melancholic moods with light, radiant qualities. The result is a rich yet stark palette—a soundscape that glimmers with a somber, fragile beauty.

Parallel's tracks are meticulously constructed, building slowly into complex, multilayered compositions. Their sound echoes 80s and 90s touchstones like The Chameleons and Slowdive while channeling the minimalist atmospherics of bands like Low and Wire. This duality is a hallmark of their style, offering a modern twist on the classic elements of dream pop, slowcore, and the ethereal post-punk of Cocteau Twins and early Dead Can Dance.

Despite the grandeur of their sound, Parallel's approach is defined by its restraint. From the project's inception, the band has eschewed overdrive and distortion pedals in favor of clean tones drenched in chorus and delay effects, prioritizing songwriting and atmosphere over the stompbox theatrics commonly associated with the shoegaze and dream pop genres. This commitment to minimalism highlights their dedication to crafting songs that resonate deeply with the listener, creating an immersive experience that is at once sonically sparse and overflowing with emotion.

The band's single, "Painkiller," is their most satisfying venture yet into gothy, hook-driven pop, blending instantly memorable vocals with searing guitar lines and a driving backbeat. “Painkiller” is an anthemic exploration of queer love and lust, addressing intimacy as both a source of profound existential fear and an intoxicating remedy for isolation and despair. The song is about channeling that fear—of loss, change, and death—into sex, connection, and pleasure. It also explores the experience of learning to trust in pleasure as a kind of truth, a path to safety and self-discovery in the face of the unknown.

From its opening notes, "Painkiller" transports the audience to a surreal terrain where reality merges with fantasy and inhibitions melt away. The hypnotic rhythm pulsates with primal energy, drawing the listener into a trance-like state where the boundaries between pleasure and agony, desire and restraint, begin to blur. The evocative lyrics of "Painkiller" poignantly explore the complexities of queer intimacy, delving into the delicate balance between vulnerability and empowerment. The singers' voices rise and fall in a plaintive refrain, laying bare the longing, ecstasy, and pain accompanying such intimate connections.

Parallel's approach transcends mere sound, creating an immersive experience that draws listeners into a deeply reflective state. Their distinctive style sets them apart in the crowded landscape of alternative music, resonating with fans who find echoes of their own emotions in the expressive melodies and introspective lyrics.

Formed in the fall of 2019, Parallel began their journey in the intimate confines of their drummer Maria's basement during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the months of lockdown, they crafted their first batch of songs, laying the foundation for a sound they've meticulously refined over the past five years. With roots deep in the DIY scene of Oakland and beyond, the members of Parallel have a rich history of creating music and touring with a number of genre-spanning projects, including Ragana, Nothing Natural, Negative Standards, and Romantic Feelings.

In the summer of 2021, Parallel entered Atomic Garden Studios to record with acclaimed producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Loma Prieta). These sessions culminated in a well-received self-titled cassette released on Bay Area DIY stalwarts Cherub Dream Records. The lead single, "Orchid," garnered significant attention, earning heavy rotation on the popular shoegaze radio station DKFM and making local and international waves.

Making their live debut almost two years after forming, Parallel quickly became a fixture in the Bay Area music scene. They have since shared stages with an eclectic mix of punk, darkwave, and indie bands, including Bestial Mouths, Generación Suicida, Daiistar, Maria BC, and Haunt Me. Their subsequent West Coast tour took them from Tijuana to Vancouver, BC, and they are preparing for an East Coast and Midwest tour in early 2025 to support their forthcoming record.

Parallel's live prowess caught the attention of the legendary Mount Eerie, who invited them to open at San Francisco's historic Great American Music Hall during the 2023 SF Noise Pop festival. The band also recently contributed their song “Static Side” to Psychic Eye Records' "The Ancient Wall" compilation CD. This project saw over forty darkwave and post-punk projects, including Twin Tribes, Topographies, and Aurat, to raise funds for Palestinians displaced by the war on Gaza and unhoused people living in Oakland.

Returning to Atomic Garden Studios in 2023, Parallel recorded "Flooded," a six-track mini-album set for release on July 10th, 2024, as a 12" record and cassette on Play Alone Records and Cherub Dream Records. This album expands on their established sound with more dynamic song structures, an expansive lyrical palette, and intricate vocal harmonies interwoven with dual-guitar melodies. The lyrics explore the fleeting transitions between emotional states, delving into the "flooded" intensities of desire, rage, loss, and despair and the moments of suspension and dislocation that frame them. 

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

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.