Still Flyin' – On a Bedroom Wall

The second LP from San Francisco’s Still Flyin’ takes its cues from the dreamy atmospheres of understated 80s indie; the textures of opener Elsie Dormer bear an uncanny resemblance to New Order’s Ceremony, all reverberating roto-toms and shimmering keyboard chords, while Camouflage Detection buries an Orange Juice-esque guitar hook under more of the LP’s ubiquitous synths. It’s a record that, for all its lyrical protestations of exuberance, tends to shuffle awkwardly at the edge of the dancefloor. 
 
Despite that sense of timidity, On a Bedroom Wall manages to turn meekness to its advantage much of the time. That’s due in large part to the record’s impressively subtle production and mixing (by Haima Marriott and Wyatt Cusick, respectively), which ensures that these songs avoid any sense of pastiche or overblown sentimentality. Although Still Flyin’ can be too deferential to their influences, that cautiousness is offset by the delicacy of their sound.