Nothing impresses this reviewer more than marked improvement. Healees’ self-titled 2022 debut furnished a rough blueprint for what some consider ‘jangle-gaze’, which we prefer to call ‘power pop-gaze’: a dynamic, more energetic strain of classic shoegaze. While Healees was a droning and moderately bumpy ride in spots, the album displayed remarkable potential for a then-unknown multinational collective looking to fuse jangle, post-punk, shoegaze, and power pop into something beyond those genres alone.
Paris Popfest has labeled Healees as the best shoegaze band in France, and while our Gallic music knowledge won’t win any Kewpie dolls, we are hard-pressed to imagine better. With Coin de l’œil – “Corner of the Eye” in English – Healees have crafted one of 2024’s most consistent and pleasing records. Their seductive sound blossoms from a melodic base of plucked guitar that is absolute catnip to Lush– and High Violets-trained ears.
Hailing from the United States, Sweden, Belgium, and France, Healees incorporate enough power-pop sensibility to redefine and broaden shoegaze’s historical parameters. One secret to their approach? They have managed to tone down the overabundant drone-fests in some Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine efforts, replacing them with sugary yet insistent chords and progressions. Having always preferred our shoegaze in the peppier and non-drawling vein, we were sold on Coin de l’œil out of the gate.
One excellent influence we have yet to mention is the Stone Roses. Their still-relevant 1989 self-titled debut performed a similar genre sleight-of-hand, and Coin de l’œil’s “Tiny Head” could well be the “Waterfall” Roses reincarnated. Bryan Quinn’s and Renaud Chaure’s guitar fretwork is also reminiscent of Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper from the Church in their finest mind-meld guitar moments. The rolling “Still OK” opens with 2024’s most hypnotic chord progression, channeling the Mighty Lemon Drops or prime Coalesced-era For Against. “Waterslide” and the chiming, mesmerizing “White Room” preserve the mood with a Pale Saints-style background wash, except steadier and far more disciplined. The record also features a couple of short, mood-enhancing ‘intermezzo’ tracks, which “Ben-Hur” old-timers like us always appreciate.
As with most shoegaze, the vocal range takes a back seat on Coin de l’œil. Healees are all about atmosphere, not Mariah Carey-style pyrotechnics, singing in English about what their Bandcamp page calls ‘stories of isolation, illness, illicit crushes, and heavy drugs’. Quinn’s satisfying production deftly strings these tracks together into a charming whole and benefits considerably from hi-res quality. 24-bit FLAC audio has become relatively standard in today’s downloading world, at least for non-Spotify hi-res fans. So if you’re like me, and prefer owning your music in the highest quality format possible, Bandcamp.com has Coin de l’œil available in 24-44 resolution.
As we close in on Thanksgiving, our ‘short list’ of exceptional records for 2024 is remarkably truncated this year. Healees’ invigorating sophomore effort belongs right near the top.