“I wish I’d only look and didn’t have to touch.“
Fleshwater‘s newest LP may stand out as one of the more anticipated releases this year. Since the brief but effective demo2020, their brand of 90s-era nostalgic alternative metal has garnered attention. Comprised of two members of Vein.fm, along with vocalist Marisa Shirar, the band quickly carves out a familiar yet effective niche. We’re Not Here To Be Loved seeks to cash in on that hype and deliver on expectations. Recorded with the legendary Kurt Ballou of Converge fame, from the beginning this album puts all the pieces in place.
Opener “Baldpate Driver” certainly inspires confidence in the album’s direction. It features a hazy, distorted, shoegaze-influenced alternative sound, which matches the demo, but this time with greater space from both vocalists. This track ends up as one of the longest on the album (just behind the final track). If anything, I wish we spent more time with some of these tracks – this one shows what the band can do when given the time, and it moves through its various passages quickly and cleanly. “Closet” shows off one of the shorter numbers, complete with a sample to make up the intro for almost one-fourth of its length. Here we have one of Shirar‘s finest performances, which isn’t saying a lot as they’re constantly a highlight across the board.
Reach in let it out,
We can shut it down.
These are the symptoms of you,
Making me say all the truth.
The third song, and second of two singles, “The Razor’s Apple”, proves an effective showcase of not only this style but also some of the album’s motifs. The low-res video helps to further along that sense of nostalgia, but also the darker edge of some of the imagery. It twists childhood toys, like clowns and the rubber duck, into something out of the uncanny valley. It sounds like an anti-love song, and certainly does the job of promoting the album at large. Really though, any one of these tracks could have been a worthy option as a single. For instance, the following track “Woohoo” stacks up just as well, as does the reappearance of “Linda Claire” from the demo.
Your conscience, it’s too calm,
I’m not here to be loved.
On the other hand, “Kiss the Ladder” comes off as an odd choice, clocking in at just 1:17. We do get the album namedrop, and the track itself does perfectly encapsulate the overall themes. When left with little to criticize outside of single selection, that signals just how well Fleshwater performed. Subsequent track “Enjoy” also delivers with its one-word chorus as an immediate earworm. Just 22 minutes elapse by the time we get to “Begging For The Ending”, another highlight on the album. It explores much of the same territory as previous tracks, which proves worth revisiting one last time. By the end, I want more Fleshwater and may just queue the album up again.
Ultimately, We’re Not Here To Be Loved shows off a style easy to copy but hard to perfect. From the dreamy vocals to the prominent basslines, it both remembers and modernizes a genre long-due for renovation. This album does not over-complicate, but instead gets by on efficacy and aesthetic consistency. I can’t think of any album in 2022 that accomplishes its apparent goals as well as this one does.
9.5/10
We’re Not Here To Be Loved comes out Friday, November 4 on Closed Casket Activities with pre-orders here.