Russian Baths
Michael Mehalick
Russian Baths are the guitarist/singer duo Jess Rees and Luke Koz, whose music meshes shoegaze and goth-adjacent post-punk into somber pieces of noise rock. They are also not too far away from no wave in some of their songs, even displaying traces of grunge affectations on the guitar on occasion (Parasite, Tremble). Their music tends to be more atmospheric than melodic, and with fairly dark undertones, though they manage to not go overboard with it. The main focus tends to be on the instrumental parts and the band executes them very well. Not just Rees and Koz, but the accompanying musicians also have a very tight feel in how they play. Their voices have that slightly distant, misty quality that goes well with shoegaze.
