Pretentiousness has been common in indie rock for a long time now, but if you listen to the new album from Vinyl Floor, Funhouse Mirror, following its upcoming release date of September 16th, one thing you won’t encounter in the whole of the record is a sense of ego. While there’s pride behind the lyrical release of “Clock With No Hands” or the title cut in Funhouse Mirror, there’s never a feeling of clashing personalities, larger-than-life charismas, or a desire to compete for the lion’s share of the spotlight in this record.
On the contrary, I think that songs like “Pretty Predictable” and “Between Lines Undone” wouldn’t be as playable were these players not feeding into each other’s narrative and, to a larger degree, making each other’s output feel just a little stronger with each beat. Embracing the experimental themes is an attribute often taken for granted in the underground scenes I follow, but it’s never undervalued in an LP like this one, largely because the musicians who are bringing the material to life won’t let us forget that pushing the envelope further to the left is their mission in every instance here.
Virtuosity has its place in music, especially in pop, but there’s something greater to be said about the weight of a sonic workout like “Stare, Scare” or “Anything You Want,” both of which flirt with some of the more enigmatic qualities an alternative outing can have – without sounding like rebel cries in their own right. Emotion, more often than not, is the most important weapon Vinyl Floor is wielding here, and it isn’t presented through lyrical statements exclusively. In all honesty, I think that the lingering tonal presence of the keys in the title track of Funhouse Mirror conveys even more heart than any of the powerful vocal harmonies in the song do, which is no small statement to make when considering how much luster these pipes are able to push out in this song alone.
Contrast between the strings and the bottom end of the mix in “Pretty Predictable” and “Days” generates some fireworks as well, and from the looks of this release I would have to assume that there isn’t much ground Vinyl Floor isn’t willing to cover if it means making a song that much more meaningful to the listeners.
I will admit that I came into this review of Funhouse Mirror expecting a lot just based on the work I’ve heard from Thomas Charlie Pedersen in the past, and this undoubtedly surpasses what I had hoped to experience in these ten songs for a few different reasons, chief among them the flow of the tracklist in its totality. This is not a record you can cherry-pick at all in my opinion, but instead, one that was meant to be put on and enjoyed as a complete piece, joyfully accompanied by intoxicants or the innocent sunset at a day’s end the same. Vinyl Floor hit the nail on the head here, and I can’t wait to see how they’ll follow up in the future.
Chadwick Easton