Film School

If past Film School releases featured a band stylistically stuck between the narrow hallways of post-punk and the woozy haze of shoegaze, the San Francisco unit's latest (and second for Beggars Banquet) seems to be a declaration of choice: "We've sided with the dream pop, the pedals and the texture-heavy gurgle of the latter, thank you." After all, Film School's heart has always seemed to lie with a more adventurous approach. Even on 2006's danceable self-titled jaunt, mastermind Greg Bertens' sensibilities proved much darker and more complex than those of, say, post-punk contemporaries Bloc Party or Editors.

But after a gun-point robbery, the theft of Film School's van, and some serious personnel changes, Bertens' songwriting seems even darker here. Hideout's songs benefit greatly from the gloom, as the icy winds of "Blizzard Scout" or the acoustic warble of "Must Try Easier" quickly prove. It's this gloom that allows the moments when Bertrens lets light shine in on his songs to seem so beautifully transcendent.

—Robbie Mackey
09.10.07