School of Seven Bells - Windstorm
Sometimes occupying a mid-point between the noise-rock and dream-pop sides of shoegazing, sometimes just letting the synths take over, sometimes delivering looping, percussive melodies, it was clear from their debut album Alpinisms in 2009 that School of Seven Bells had more about them than most.
In 2010 they released their second album, Disconnect from Desire, and from the start it was clear that some of the randomness that coursed through Alpinisms would not be found on its successor. Mostly a straightforward and direct 80s-influenced collection, there was room for one brief burst of inspiration, in the form of opening track Windstorm.
One more album, Ghostory followed before tragically, on 29th December 2013, singer and guitarist Benjamin Curtis passed away from the effects of T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, having been diagnosed in February of that year.
Although not pure shoegazing or dream pop in its sound or methods perhaps, Windstorm is nonetheless a meeting point of many of the touchstones of the genres: you could draw a line from My Bloody Valentine through to, say Cocteau Twins, and probably nudge School of Seven Bells on the way.