Noise Pop
2013
Having fully plumbed the depths of '70s/'80s punk and new wave in the garage revival of the '00s, it seemed nailed on that the next target of up-and-coming guitar acts would be a renaissance of '90s shoegaze-y indie rock. The unwieldy-ly titled The History of Apple Pie joined a number of groups (Vivian Girls, Yuck, Ringo Deathstarr) trying to make that happen in the early '10s. Stephanie Min's cooing, thoroughly reverbed vocals line up nicely with the scuzzy distortion of Jerome Watson and Aslam Ghauri's guitars. Tracks like 'See You' and 'Mallory' are bursting with power-pop sweetness, while the jangly 'Glitch' and 'Long Way to Go' are reminiscent of the earnestly messy punk of The Muffs. Mellower songs like 'You're so Cool' allow them to explore a more atmospheric sound not unlike short-lived US dreampop group Shallow. The slow-burning romance of 'I Want More' showcases the band at its noisiest but also most introspective, with a gorgeously moody, fuzzed-out bassline underpinning it, and an oceanic, soaring guitar riff closing it out. THOAP was one of the few British bands treading these waters at the time, but despite the decent quantity of good tunes on Out of View, they would release only one more album before splitting in 2015.
