Shower Curtain is a band I’ve had to resist writing about. I first heard them back in August when “Wish You Well” was released. I had that song on constantly, but for some reason it didn’t make the Friday playlist. Correcting that mistake now, this song is brilliant:
It’s such an excellent earworm, and sounds like something from the late 90s, with influences from Pavement, The Breeders, maybe a little Sonic Youth.
I blew it again a month later when they released “Benadryl Man”. By this point I knew the record was coming, and after listening to some of their older music, I decided to save up the posting mojo until now.
“Benadryl Man” one is even more of that grungy slacker rock sound, with an angular and anxious sound that echoes the edginess in the lyrics. The video recalls old VHS tapes and Geocities-era computer graphics.
Shower Curtain have been around for a few years, and it was a one-woman operation for a while. Victoria Winter put out three EPs herself: 2018’s Mariposa, 2020’s Shower Curtain and 2021’s Something Instead. The latter two of those releases have songs on them that could easily fit on the new record. Here’s one from the 2020 self-titled EP:
It’s a little unpolished, but you can hear the connection between this and the new material.
In the past few years she’s relocated from Brazil to Brooklin and assembled a band, and Words from a Wishing Well is their debut LP. The nine songs all live in that fuzzy, shogazey, grungy sonic range, filled with familar reference points for fans of the 90s indie rock scene. So much of this record sounds like it could have been a Matador Records release in 1995.
The heart of the record for me is “You’re Like Me”, which takes the slacker-rock sound further than the songs above. I love the way the band gently shifts the tempo as the songs kicks into and out of the chorus:
“Put Me On A Shelf” evokes Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins, with quiet/loud/quiet guitars and a ton of fuzz, and the last track “Edgar” is a stripped-down, moody piece that could have fit in on an early Liz Phair record before it devolves into a grungy distorted ending.
Shower Curtain is on tour now and there’s a stop in Toronto in a couple of weeks. Tickets are here, I think I’m going to be able to make it.
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