The New Highway Hymnal - Reverb Room LP (2015)

After a lengthy two year recording process which yielded an EP and a single, Haverhill bred psychedelic outfit The New Highway Hymnal have self-released their latest effort, the Reverb Room LP. The follow up to 2012’s Whispers, and a continuation of last year’s Reverb Room EP, demonstrates that the band can still maintain their huge sound as a trio following the departure of guitarist Lukas Goudreault.

The new record combines the blurry wall-of-sound aesthetic common in shoegaze with loose, sweaty grooves straight from your parent’s garage. Bassist Amelia Gormley and Drummer Travis Hagan are in perfect sync with each other, providing an anchor underneath Hadden Stemp’s screeching guitar feedback and disorienting, dreamy vocals. “Lovey Soul” is saturated with ominous drones and crushing distortion that assault the eardrums while others, such as “Isolation” or “Ghosts”, are lighter affairs of melodic clarity with floating, ethereal vocal harmonies from Stemp and Gormley. Towards the back end of the record, the Hymnal go off on extended jams with songs like “Endless Daze”, which ends in a glorious punk vamp (this, along with “Ghosts”, marks the first recording contributions of new guitarist Charlie Northern of the Televibes, who is a recent addition to the band). The title track, “Reverb Room”, is another long tune that shows off their knack for odd experimentation and eerie noise.

For a group whose original members have been going strong since their high school days, this Reverb Room LP showcases a band that has found a perfect balance between dark, chaotic noise and sunny garage pop that will make you run for the beach, even in the dead of winter.