“I write, record, and produce everything myself in my house with the crappiest of equipment and minimal budget,” writes Rhys Williams, the brains behind impressive Reading-based noise-pop project Viscous Liquid. “I try to write songs heavy on pop melody with a shoegaze/krauty/dream-pop style. Lots of guitars, lots of haziness, and lots of noise.” Williams captures his sound well in those few sentences, conjuring a style with lo-fi maneuvering but also one that values a warm onslaught of noise, particularly of the glowing psych-friendly and shoegaze styles. Comparisons include those to acts like My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, and other creators of reverb-heavy noise with beautiful pop etchings.
The full title of this track is “It’s Sort of Like Being a Long Way From Home, All the Time”, and it’s well-crafted enough to make its bedroom origins a surprise. Spaced-out waves of guitars burst through a cloud of nocturnal elegance, as Williams’ submerged yet knowingly melodic vocals glide with perfection. The lead melody on this track is really quite wonderful, and listening through good speakers or headphones is absolutely required. You won’t hear the stunning intricacies and noise development throughout “It’s Sort of Like…” otherwise. Don’t bother with your laptop speakers. Viscous Liquid demands your full, high-quality attention. Stream his self-titled EP below:
I appreciate that Rhys was able to put together such a great-sounding EP by himself using a skeleton budget and minimal equipment. I actually like “A River” the best of all the tracks. It’s mellow, spacey, has a nice groove, and is just an all-around great piece of work. “It’s Sort of Like…” is also excellent. Thanks for posting this. I’ll have to keep an ear out for more from Viscous Liquid.