Cigarettes For Breakfast - Join The Circus (2023) [Hi-Res]

The duality of dream pop and shoegaze is a one that’s rarely discussed, when both genres basically have a core in simple music that’s dominated by walls of processed instrumentals that veer in different directions depending on which genre you are going for. Cigarettes for Breakfast’s latest single explores this duality and achieves stunning results.

At its core, this latest track from a Philadelphia-based alt-rock outfit, titled Join the Circus, is a 2-chord jam with a couple of minimalistic melodies on top. On paper, there’s nothing at all extraordinary. In the speaker though, is a totally different story. Inspired by a weird dream of a drunken dance with a pink elephant, the song serves as a colorful exploration of life’s twists and turns, and our day-to-day journeys for self-discovery in our existential malaise.

the song’s verses are stunning dream pop landscapes with brittle drum machines and wistful, flittering, pads, topped by Matt Whiteford’s simplistic and distinctive vocal melodies, the a distorted guitar peaks through a filter in a short pre-chorus that them explodes into a wall of distorted, heavy-handed guitars, a killer drum kit that’s compressed to oblivion in an intimidating, loud chorus that wholly contrasts the volatile and delicate verse. The guitar instrumental that tails the second chorus, which elegantly reminded us of Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood’s sophisticated aggression, is a highlight that got our ears perked.

With a festive, colorful video, that includes a pink elephant, terrific production value that utilizes one of the very rare cases of successful brutal compression in my memory, and a core of simple, jangly pop that draws you effortlessly in, Join the Circus is a playful contemplation of very serious topics, that’s done excessively well.