VULPIX – Innocent Pleasures, Repeated Measures Review
Jordan Barrow’s dream-pop project VULPIX released Innocent Pleasures, Repeated Measures on June 21st, 2023 via Spirit Goth Records. The release marks his first debut album and debut release on the label, following a self released EP titled Swarms back in 2016. The full release follows a series of singles released out of Victoria, Australia on platforms such as bandcamp over the past few months.
Innocent Pleasures, Repeated Measures is nothing short of a love letter to lo-fi shoegaze, offering up a quick instrumental release on the opening track Vulpine before diving into deeper waters and kicking off things with Red Moon. Red moon undulates between soaring yet sedating riffs and lo-fidelity vocal breaks. The understated drumming carries the listener through the sonic soundscape that VULPIX offers up before intensifying on the upswings, making for a pleasurable listen.
Lo-Life greets us with a punch on the opening sequence, wading firmly into post-punk territory. The rest of the track is quite a woozy yet emotionally driven aural piece and to the point. Tracks like Weekend Off give us the real fuzz without wavering or trailing off too much. I Am Just a Shell channels itself as a song of heart-break and taps into the core of what it means to be a human in the midst of yearning. The song lends itself to interesting instrumentation and experimentation throughout, leaving the listener on quite a high note before its closure. The tracks Dream Sketch #1 and Dream Sketch #3 offer themselves up as sort of sleepy and dizzy interludes.
Still Young does a wonderful job of contrasting vocals throughout with the implementation of a colorful duet while still conveying an entirely dazed out and relaxed tempo. Losing Sleep keeps the same spirit of the album going while bringing the vocal track to the forefront of the song. Jordan goes on to sing about the intricacies involved in pining for someone in particular while also contemplating the routine and mundane aspects of everyday life. Tracks Futon and Feels Like Sunday carry the spirit of the rest of the album until the thirty-eight minute work concludes.
Overall Innocent Pleasures, Repeated Measures is a strong and honest debut for VULPIX that touches on some very genuine human emotions while staying firmly centered in the dream-pop world. Additional experimentation throughout is something that I quite enjoyed and hope to see more of. I’m quite enthused to see what the future holds for Jordan Barrow’s project. I believe that this release fits very well with the rest of Spirit Goth’s catalog and can see why VULPIX was signed to accompany such an impressive list of musicians on their roster.
Check out VULPIX’s Innocent Pleasures, Repeated Measures debut below.
