Kevin Bronson on January 24th, 2019

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The swirling music of Brass Box suggests being cast adrift in the darkness, riding on a sea of hands, some belonging to angels and some to demons. The plaintive voice in the chaos belongs to Ammo Bankoff (Tête, Black Flamingo), who formed the L.A. quartet with members of War Tapes and Rituals — Neil Popkin , Matt Bennett and Pablo Amador — and set about shaping clouds of goth-tinged shoegaze. If the music has a color palette, it’s slate gray.

The new single “Rivers” follows Brass Box’s 2018 double-single “Tragedy,” an interesting experiment in musical pacing. The quartet released two versions of the song, one abiding the band’s droney side and one crisper and more upbeat. “Rivers” is more like the latter, waves of percussion crashing ashore over Bankoff’s submerged vocals.

Brass Box, which debuted with the “Ivory Skies” EP in 2016, has a full-length in the works, expected later this year.

||| Stream: “Rivers”

||| Live: Brass Box is playing Part Time Punks’ 10th annual My Bloody Valentine night at the Echo on Feb. 3. Tickets.

||| Previously: “Tragedy,” “Ivory Skies” EP