Mo Dotti

After a string of excellent singles, Mo Dotti embark on a debut record that’s streaked with all the best smudges from the Shoegaze palette, yet dazzlingly bright in tone. The genre seems to have gotten a bit dour of late, though there are more than a few who still tap into the exuberance and joy of some of the original set (see: Dummy, Aluminum, Seablite) and Mo Dotti are perched atop the crest of the new wave of gazers in this vein. Lest we all forget that Ride knew how to jangle before they leapt into the arms of fuzz and the best Bloodys cuts prioritize melody over murk, there’s much to be missed in records that are all texture with no turbine. To that effect, Mo Dotti know that as much as we’d all like to slide into the fogged atmospheres and fade into the the ether, it’s nice to have a lifeline out of the haze.

Opaque is fittingly titled, a barrage of textures caught up in a smoked glass glaze, but the album’s most persistent friend is rhythm. Underneath the dry ice dampness the band is propelled by percussion, rock tumbling the listener until they’re kicked out the other side smooth and slick and whirlpool fresh. The band chases a bit of Chapterhouse’s legacy here, knowing full well that there’s as much value in letting the listener dance as there is in setting ‘em sinking into the furniture. While the sandpaper sonics are appreciated, there’s every sense that “Lucky Boy,” “Whirling Sad” or “For Anyone And You” would easily jostle the listener just as much if the fader was pulled back on the fog. That’s what makes Opaque such a classic in the canon — it knows how to lean into the cues that have all sent us to the Shoegaze well at one time or another, but strip it down for parts and it’s still one of the best indie pop records to hit this year.

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