Kevin Bronson on May 11th, 2017

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Bay Area-bred indie-rockers Film School left their mark on the Aughts with two strong albums on the Beggars Banquet label before its members went their separate ways, with founder Greg Bertens carrying on in Los Angeles with a different lineup and, on a 2010 album, a sound that favored synth-driven dream-pop over guitars-ablaze shoegazing. A original-lineup reunion show in 2014, however, led to last year’s “June” EP, and closer to the visceral post-punk of Film School’s origins. Now, Bertens and gang have unveiled the first song from a still-to-be-titled full-length planned for release later this year. “Did you try with all your might?” the frontman asks over harmonized guitars and keyboard flourishes in “Bye Bye Bird,” a hazy meditation that sounds like it just hopped off the boat from the U.K. at shoegazing’s pinnacle. Bertens says the idea for the song came from bassist Justin Labo, with the frontman arranging and adding vocals, guitarist Nyles Lannon piling on the ethereal and keyboardist Jason Ruck contributing the proggy synth. Dan Long, who worked with the band on 2006’s “Hideout,” did the mix.

||| Stream: “Bye Bye Bird”