Mixing old-school shoegaze with modern-day dream-pop, Cre•scen•do sounds like a new genre all of their own.  Maybe that’s why they coined the term “DreamGaze” to describe their unique sound.  No doubt they were sick of music bloggers and fans pinning too many labels on them to count.  Simplify: “DreamGaze” fits the group perfectly.

Hailing from Los Angeles, the band brings their danceable yet spacey blend of post-punk to the Bay this Friday.  Check out their first official single “Gatsby” for a sampling of their sound: that tight, compressed drumbeat, the icy synth, the wearied vocal delivery and how it counteracts the bright guitar lines, the overall diaphanous feeling of the tune, as if it could float away at any moment.  It’s the sound of being up all night and not quite wanting to go home yet even though you can glimpse the first orange-purple hues of sunlight creeping across the horizon.  It’s the sound of a party coming to its inevitable, depressing end.  Don’t worry though, Cre•scen•do feels your pain.  After all, they wrote songs about it.

Slowness, Cre•scen•do, Big Surr
Neck of the Woods
October 24, 2014
9pm, $8 (21+)