The Drop Nineteens, a shoegaze band that was popular in the nineties, came out with their first album in 30 years on November 3rd, 2023, and released it through Wharf Cat Records. They first formed in 1990, when the members were just a group of teenagers living in Boston. They quickly released their debut album Delaware in 1992, and their sophomore album National Coma in 1993. They became nearly instant hits in the alternative rock and shoegaze scene, and performed on stage with many popular bands like Radiohead, Blur, Hole, and PJ Harvey. The music video for their biggest hit Winona was released on MTV in 1992. Despite their success, they disbanded in 1995 after finishing up their tour for National Coma. The leader of the band, George Ackell, has attributed the break-up of the band to it simply running its course and feeling as if they had little left to accomplish in their music careers. In an interview with Stereogum, Ackell stated “It didn’t seem to be relevant to my life. I was very content and proud of those early days.” But thirty years after the release of their second album, Ackell decided to contact the band’s bassist, Steve Zimmerman, to try and create a new album, which has turned into Hard Light.
The album opens with the song Hard Light, which has lyrics reminiscent of the band’s time performing together in the 90’s, and follows with songs that occasionally contain lyrics that obscurely describe aspects of their big break, as well as a single intermission, Rose With Smoke. The album ends with a dreamy, seven minute song called T, that perfectly fades out as a gentle conclusion to the album.
Overall, the lyrics on most songs were somewhat underwhelming and unimpactful due to their somewhat plain nature. They sounded as if they were more-so written to polish off each instrumental piece and only sometimes shared stories of their time performing in the nineties, which could be hard to pick up on for new audiences. However, the sound quality in each song was great and clear, and they faithfully stayed true to the sound of their music from the past. Each song transitioned well into the other, and was engaging from beginning to end. I liked a good bit of the songs from the album, particularly Gal and Scapa Flow; however, none of them became favorites of mine or were especially notable to me.
Several other reviews for the album have come out, and the general consensus for the critics appears to be positive, according to Metacritic. The album received an overall rating of 77%, a statistic that is based on the rating of 12 critics, the lowest score being 60% and the highest score being 85%. On Pitchfork, an online music publication known for their coverage of alternative music, Brad Shoup gave the album a 7.4/10. Shoup generally had glowing things to say about the new release, sharing kind opinions like “With so much time gone, it would have been no surprise if Drop Nineteens had rehashed musical glories, or settled old scores. But when Hard Light does look backwards, it does so without triumph or disillusion, only tenderness,” in regards to fears that the new album would sound like a copy of their old ones.
In comparison to their previous albums, the Drop Nineteens were unsuccessful in delivering new music that could truly capture the attention of their audience, or that contained something new and exciting to offer. Their return was welcomed and warm but unfortunately did not live up to the expectations that their incredible debut album set precedent for.
