Mall goth’s newest release, “Heather’s Exit,” feels like wandering into a familiar place only to find it shifting beneath your feet. The upstate NY jangle rock band leans into their signature blend of indie rock, dream pop, and psychedelia, weaving a soundscape that balances clarity with haze. It’s a coming-of-age record that doesn’t just tell stories—it captures moods, drifting from sharp-edged obsession into an almost cinematic blur of memory and feeling.
Recorded at Tummy Rub Records in Albany and shaped by producer Conor Grocki, the EP bears the hallmarks of a band intent on refining their craft without sanding down the rough edges that make their sound so alive. The mastering work by Scoops Dardaris gives the record its final polish, but the soul of “Heather’s Exit” lies in the interplay of its members. Ella Kasper’s vocals anchor the songs with a mix of sweetness and defiance, while her bass contributions lock tightly with Sam Meyer’s driving lines. Meyer and Peter Lukach on guitars bring the jangle to the forefront, evoking bands like Alvvays or Pixies but giving the riffs their own restless energy. Thomas Finney’s percussion is both grounding and experimental, with moments of piano adding unexpected texture, and backup vocals from Val Lasser and Finney themselves expand the sonic palette.
Where the band truly shines is in their ability to stretch between moods without losing cohesion. At one moment, you’re in the shimmering brightness of jangly chords, and the next you’re pulled into a dreamlike fog where everything feels warped yet strangely comforting. Thematically, “Heather’s Exit” navigates the messy space between youth and maturity, where coming-of-age often turns into obsession, where small feelings bloom into overwhelming truths. It’s the kind of record that doesn’t just soundtrack a stage of life but mirrors it back to you, unpolished and intoxicating.
The artwork by Eliza Whalen encapsulates the music perfectly—dreamy, evocative, and slightly surreal, hinting at the dualities that run through the EP. Like the best indie records, “Heather’s Exit” isn’t about perfection, it’s about capturing a moment in time and making it feel timeless. Mall goth manages to do just that, pulling from influences like Wednesday and Sonic Youth while carving out their own corner of the dream pop and jangle rock landscape.
“Heather’s Exit” isn’t just a step forward for mall goth—it’s an invitation into their world, a world where jangly guitars blur into the glow of neon lights and obsessions become stories worth telling. It lingers like a half-remembered dream, and that’s exactly what makes it so compelling.
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