Flywheel – I Want To Join The Fall

It is nearly impossible to discuss shoegaze, alternative, or dream pop music without mentioning the Irish scene. For decades, Irish bands were among the torchbearers for anything considered good, lush, captivating, and underground- a scene that in so many ways offers more than any renowned band could ever afford. And most importantly, speaking of the Irish scene without mentioning Flywheel would be a big mistake, considering the fact that this prolific band continuously releases exceptional compositions that often go beyond comprehension. Not long ago, they unleashed another fine piece of sonic artistry you should definitely put on your music radar. “I want to join The Fall,” their latest standalone single, decorated by Aoife Céitinn, a profoundly creative artist responsible for their visual identity in their recent series of works, is one of those compositions where tremendous creativity, knowledge, and experience meet a knack for writing, composing, arranging, and producing captivating songs. Thematically, “I want to join The Fall” serves as an homage to The Fall, a legendary post-punk band that influenced many artists and groups over four decades. But instead of paying homage directly, Flywheel examines the contradictions that exist between an artist and their work, and the experience of loving the music while acknowledging the flaws of the person who made it. It’s something that happens not only with the greats like The Fall, but with many artists and bands nowadays. Sometimes, we need to separate the art from the artist to appreciate those creative outbursts and efforts. Therefore, “I want to join The Fall” will appeal not only to The Fall fans but to anyone who has ever been in that particular dilemma. And as usual, Flywheel sounds outstanding. It’s nearly mind-blowing how this band continuously experiments with its sound yet retains the essence that made them great in the first place. The mixture of reverby, noisy aesthetics of late eighties and early nineties shoegaze, nineties alternative, and the tremendous calmness of dream pop maintains this composition so psychedelic, luxuriant, unfiltered, emotive, and utterly captivating. Flywheel gradually develops their ultimate soundscape by incorporating layer upon layer, detail upon detail, idea upon idea, creating an otherworldly cathartic experience rarely heard or seen nowadays.

The sheer strength of this band lies in their ability to completely transform the mentioned music genres and create a completely new listening experience while still keeping the foundations intact. You’ll notice all those fresh ideas popping from every possible corner and musicianship that not only sounds outstanding all the time, but it feels like it could go in any unpredictable direction and deliver something so fascinating, surprising, and ear-appealing. These soundscapes have been created with tremendous skill and precision, offering a perfect platform for all those calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal, reverby vocals. And believe me, the lead vocal performance packs a lot of emotion, complexity, melody, harmony, and all other qualities while articulating with that adorable, beautiful, post-punk detachment that made particular genre irresistible in the first place. When you press play and the vocals start, bringing all the emotional depth, complexity, and melody upfront, you’ll notice how they complete the soundscape that easily wraps around your head and refuses to let go. In the meantime, the sweet, tastefully implemented, generous servings of distortion applied over those catchy, memorable, engaging guitar riffs act as a counterweight to all the melodies and harmonies delivered by the lead vocalist. While her voice offers calmness, soothingness, and etheral quality, the guitars contribute all the rawness, abrasiveness, grittiness, and subtle aggression that makes this song even more beautiful. At first, the guitars do not seem like distorted at all, but the band applies more and more as the song approaches the closure. This fuzz perfectly complements everything Flywheel intended to achieve here. But the fun doesn’t stop here. Quite the contrary, you’ll hear the synths lurking all around. At first, they are so subtle, barely noticeable, but as the song evolves, so do the synth leads, themes, melodies, harmonies, and pads evolve too. Their presence makes “I want to join The Fall” even more complex, luxuriant, and captivating without ever sounding so overwhelming. They also add that sweet krautrock or psych rock feel, while keeping Flywheel grounded in shoegaze, post-punk, and alternative rock waters. And of course, the rhyhtm section makes sure every sounds so tight, precise, dynamic, and groovy. With all those chunky, warm, powerful basslines and steady beats that keep the time and entire band in line, the rhythm section plays a significant role, where every low end note and percussion maintains momentum.

“I want to join The Fall” is an outstanding piece of sonic artistry that not only showcases Flywheel’s ability to breathe fresh air into longstanding music genres, but also demonstrates their impressive ideas, skills, experience, and musicianship. By creating a continuously evolving soundscape that offers even more sonic and rhyhtmic maneuvers each second, they created a shoegaze masterpiece that also balances everything you dearly love about post-punk, psych rock, alternative, and dream pop music. This band never ceases to amaze, and if you ever loved good music, you’ll do yourself a favor and check “I want to join The Fall.” The song is available on all streaming platforms. Do not miss it!