Head Void
From Indian Lakes / Head Void / 2024 / Little Shuteye Records
My brother and I discovered From Indian Lakes back in the Fall of 2013 when I was home for Thanksgiving break from college. We were both on the Audiotree Live craze of listening to newly released sessions on the site to discover hidden gems. When we stumbled across the From Indian Lakes live session showcasing tracks from their second record Able Bodies, it left both of our mouths wide open. Able Bodies brings together a menagerie of elements we were not prepared for - progressive builds, intricate layering, post-hardcore screaming, Vannucchi’s angelic falsetto, intense lyrics, and even sleigh bells. We were both in for the ride. Two years later in 2014 after the independent release of Able Bodies, FIL signed to Triple Crown Records and released Absent Sounds. FIL’s fanbase continued to grow after this release with follow ups Everything Feels Better Now in 2016 and then Dimly Lit in 2019, before the band took a break as Joey Vannucchi went on a solo writing stint for the proceeding five years. After releasing some magnificent solo work, Joe Vann came back with an incredibly infectious shoegaze record for From Indian Lake’s sixth LP release titled Head Void.
Head Void released on May 15th, 2024 and I have listened to it every single day for the past month straight. That’s how good this one is. Picking up features from Title Fight’s Hyperview, Head Void brings loud, reverb ridden shoegaze to the indie rock and dream pop pool of From Indian Lakes. Title track Water really eases you in with the euphoria you can expect for the next 33 minutes. The guitar riffs are blanketed in loads of reverb and vibrato and I’m here for it. Vannucchi’s voice enters and stress melts away - “Water me down, I’m growing along your legs. Holding me now. You’re throwing it all away. My eyes close. Now my eyes close for a moment”. The Flow might be my favorite track on the record (tied alongside Keep Me). It’s hard to stop playing this track on repeat with it’s bouncing chord progression and fuzzy neck slides throughout. Joey’s relatable lines touch on being stuck on a bad habit and needing your loved ones to pull you out - “Pull me back down when I stay in the flow. You’re making every thought less fleeting. I want to kick it out when I’m alone”. Following track The Lines hits close to home for me, centering around social anxiety and the realization that Joe Vann may just be like any of us, even if he’s perceived as a musical God. As Vannucchi mentions in an interview with Brooklyn Vegan “The song is about being scared of people, and the lines we don’t want to cross, but also the script we kind of keep in our back pocket in case our anxiety gets to us in social settings. I always have some memorized lines in my brain when I am around strangers because I struggle with social interactions otherwise”. The Wilderness is bass heavy and has some of my favorite lyrics on the record as Joe sings about the feelings of loneliness. Album closer Keep Me is so damn simple but amazing. It’s refreshing as Vannucchi doubles his falsetto here with some lower octave vocals. The best way I can describe listening to this track is that it garners a spiritual high. This record needs more ears on it.
From Indian Lakes is Joey Vannucchi, Justin Stanphill, Enrique Gutierrez, and Chris Kellogg. Head Void was written and produced by Joey Vannucchi and mastered by Will Yip. The album artwork was done by Adolf Vatnikaj. I got to catch From Indian Lakes live for my first time on their current tour on June 1st, 2024 in Phoenix. It was an incredible, intimate show that was mixed super well by the house engineers. I bought a copy of Head Void at the merch table with a tour exclusive, screen printed outer sleeve numbered out of 100 signed by Joe Vann. You can read the full interview with Joe Vann from Brooklyn Vegan here as well as catch the music video for The Flow here.
