Power Strip’s Nothing Yet EP Is a Nostalgic Slice of Ambient Shoegaze

Eli Enis wrote a typically great piece for Stereogum about the seismic resurgence of shoegaze last year, spurred on by TikTok’s guiding hand. Not that such a resurgence came out of the blue; I’d argue that the back half of the 2010s, which saw music treated more than ever as a backdrop, made a perfect breeding ground for shoegaze’s concentration around vibes. But as the new year dawns, it’s rarely been a better time to pull out the 1 Spot and daisy-chain all those pedals together.

Come to think of it, that makes Power Strip a fitting name for a shoegaze act, especially one that also gazes backward. Founded in 2017 by Nellie Albertson (who’s been independently supporting their underground music scene for even longer), the act practices shoegaze’s hallmarks - smeared textures, nostalgic pining, inscrutable vocals - with a gently subversive edge, each moment never quite what you expect. It’s been a year and a half since their last release, 2022’s swiftly-composed no breeze, and now the act is back with a third EP. Produced by Tony Lamothe (Welp Disney) and accompanied by a complete visual experience to boot, Nothing Yet continues to flesh out Albertson’s project with an entry that’s immediately more engaging than anything that’s come before it. It may have few beats, but there’s still a beating heart at its center.

Where its predecessor floated in dimly-let ambiance, Nothing Yet starts with a surge via the crystalline chimes and cavernous churn of “Dreaming Materialized”; its two-chord rotation immediately recalls the Death in Vegas cut off the Lost in Translation OST, a latent shoegaze staple. Right afterward, “You’re a Delight” briefly misdirects with a jaunty electronic pattern before blanketing the ears in blissful sonics: the hum of a low G, twin vocal harmonies, a battalion of photopic synths overhead. Each of its five tracks is brief like this, including the droning “Dusk Gathers” and the enigmatic “Hole,” and that makes the five-minute “Fog Bath” not only an outlier but a centerpiece of sorts. Its pace is measured and its guitar line is somber, but its simple trajectory is broken by a gorgeous, weightless second half.

There are words! Can you hear what’s being said? Shoegaze leaves so much open to feeling as opposed to intellectualizing, which is why it’s generous that Albertson and Lamothe have provided visuals for the work. They pair footage from Albertson’s childhood with footage of the present day, and the juxtaposition - images of candid unconsciousness peppered with images of artistic self-consciousness, unbridled potential vs realistic realization - reinforces the record’s implacable sense of melancholy. It’s a common trap to obsess over what could have been rather than live in what currently is, and that sensibility curdles the easy retrospective charms of the EP into something more cerebral, and therefore more intriguing.