Knifeplay

Knifeplay is a Philadelphia based band that presents a particularly gloomy take on the shoegaze genre with songs that have deep sorrow at their core. Not that shoegaze in general can ever be accused of being too lively or uplifting in the first place, but Knifeplay often goes to a dark place. Vocalist TJ Strohmer sings in a wounded voice behind a thick layer of haze. Their music generally tends to be on the slow side, but not quite droney. The wall of noise that is definitional to the genre is something the band works its way up to as the song progresses. It is an extra gear they keep in their back pocket for crescendo purposes. Their songs are well constructed from instrumentation point of view with some outstanding guitar work.