by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
In the rich landscape of Chicago’s indie rock scene, Pool Holograph deserve a spot right by their buzzing peers in Dehd and Deeper. The band, who have played in one shape or another for a decade, create forward thinking music, unafraid to explore new avenues as they wander between art rock, fuzzy pop, and minimalist post-punk. On their upcoming third album, Love Touched Time and Time Began to Sweat (due out October 2nd via Sunroom Records), the band hone in that minimalism, stripping back any form of excess and leaving the bare bones of their songwriting at the forefront.
On second single “Life By The Power Plant,” the band open with a quick jangle and then gravitate right to the point, creating an atmosphere both woozy and direct, moving like a cloud on a mission. While less tangled than their previous efforts, the band are awash in a bit of reverb throughout, with that touch of haze giving a dreamy affect to sleepy reflections. There’s a swoon to it all, breaking as the never to be repeated chorus hits, rich with melody and guitars that warp in and out of echoed space.
Speaking about the song, Pool Holograph’s Wyatt Grant shared:
“‘Life by the Power Plant’ is about growing up in an insular southern town and the mythology that grew from it. The symbol of the “power plant” represents the double-edged sword of having a spiritual dependency on that which can also harm or debilitate you in the long run. It’s representative of my relationship with my nostalgia and the painful experiences that are at its foundations. In the song, I ask a figure from that time “if I called you again, would you answer it? Would you remember much? Could you remember much?” We try to reach our past selves, or a core self via nostalgia- unresolved or unreachable means. Embracing this disconnect offers a way to reimagine the past- and your identity after leaving “life by the power plant”.