Slow Fiction releases debut album "dollhouse"

New York five-piece Slow Fiction released their debut album, "dollhouse," on the label Tight Knit, reviewed by Under the Radar at 7.5 out of 10. The record follows three earlier EPs and a run of singles, including "When" for Speedy Wunderground, and moves between hazy dream-pop and abrasive noise and garage rock, threaded throughout with what the review called a wistful, hypnotic beauty.

The album opens with the earlier single "junior year," where frontwoman Julia Vassallo asks over a restless bass line and shimmering guitars, "Who are you when no one's looking back or through?" It's a question the review said hangs over the rest of the record, as identity and self-presentation keep resurfacing. "Ninetynine" then picks up the pace before "mouthpiece" turns darker, with Vassallo singing, "Rest your head, baby, never cry, rest your heart, baby, don't you lie."

The review praised the band's guitar tone in particular, describing it as scuffed-up and abrasive, mixing a gauzy wash of sound with bursts of fuzz and distortion that keep the songs from turning too polished. Closer "Turning down flowers" runs past six minutes, slowly building tension before what the review called one of the album's most satisfying moments.

Under the Radar's readers rated the album even higher, at 8 out of 10 on average. "dollhouse" lands in the release calendar among the rest of August's new indie and rock releases from Slow Fiction.