CLAIRECORDS ARTISTS SCIFLYER’S LONG-AWAITED THIRD RELEASE, THEY ONLY BELIEVE IN THE MOON, OUT NOW

CLAIRECORDS ARTISTS SCIFLYER’S LONG-AWAITED THIRD RELEASE, THEY ONLY BELIEVE IN THE MOON, OUT NOW

File Under: Shoegaze, indie pop, dream pop

You may or may not have seen or heard suggestions that shoegaze is back with burgeoning vigor --not that it ever really went anywhere in the first place. Still, there’s no time like the right time to welcome the Alameda, CA-based Sciflyer back from an eight-year hiatus, and its third Clairecords release, They Only Believe in the Moon, from their hands to yours.

A long and uncomfortable silence followed the release of the band’s last effort, The Age of Lovely, Intimate Things, in 2005. John D. Luerssen, writing for AllMusic, praised Sciflyer for “maintaining a uniqueness that sets it apart from the Ride and Swervedriver worshipers that have scattered the alternative music landscape since the early '90s.”

Singer and guitarist Steve Kennedy, bassist Kim Oberly and drummer Scott Eberhardt broke ground on the album after their inaugural SXSW showcase in 2006, but a series of unexpected setbacks forced the band to shelve it indefinitely. Now, after an eon of stasis, things are looking up.  Kennedy identifies the Beach Boys’ SMiLE Sessions as a major catalyst for the album’s creation and completion. 

“I realized that Moon was my SMiLE,” recalls, “It was gonna gnaw away at me until I finished those recordings and assembled the album.”

Kennedy has always maintained that Sciflyer’s shoegaze-hued dream-pop creations originate “somewhere in the ether,” an apt descriptor as they slip the surly bonds of earth. After all, they only believe in the moon. You will, too.

They Only Believe in the Moon is now on sale through Darla . Treat your ears to a preview on Soundcloud .