Polxroid - Standing Still And Going Nowhere

·November 24, 2021·3 min read

polxroid – Standing Still And Going Nowhere | Loss and Longing

Polxroid is a four-piece, indie, alternative rock project based in Donegal, Ireland. The band consists of Ciarán Coleman, Catherine Gallagher, Seán Coleman and Conor Duffy. Having formed in 2020 during the pandemic, Polxroid (pronounced polaroid), has released a single and their debut album that features their first single. With a run time of just under half an hour, Standing Still and Going Nowhere features 9 songs of pure, unhinged, alternative rock.

The first song off the album, I Remain (Vol. 4) kicks off the album in classic rock fashion – with a huge bang. The guitar and drums stand out the most, taking a huge chunk of the mix, but they don’t overpower the rest of the instruments. I, specifically, enjoy the guitar riffs that just create a really interesting melody for the vocals to navigate through. Catherine Gallagher’s vocals sound absolutely killer on the track. The rhythm section does a great job of driving the track forward. The drums are fast-paced and are everything you want in a rock song. The bass is just super groovy and they work so well together.

We then move on to Nothing Will Ever Change. The track starts as a 90s Rock song usually does, but the intro is so great. Once we hear the vocals, the song starts moving in this fluidic, dynamic nature that one can only adore. I really like how Polxroid plays with the dynamics with each voicing. There appears to be a great understanding among the band members that creates a brilliant cohesion. Moving on to Fever, the third track on the album, we start off relatively slower. It takes a relatively darker turn as the song gets even more haunting in the first verse. But once the drums and guitar kick in, you take notice of where the track starts moving and you can’t help but remain in awe of how great this composition is.

The fourth track on the album, Halloween At Pete’s, picks the pace up a bit more. The vocals on this track remind me of Poets Of The Fall. There’s a steady progression in the track that finds its footing and carries it forward. I really enjoy the bass work on this album, in general. Polxroid shows an ability to compose pieces with such intricacy and ease that it seems so effortless. We see how they do just this in Duffy, The Vampire Slayer. This track has so much going on for it, and that makes it even better. It feels like they’ve got a bit of a Paramore vibe going on here, but I absolutely love it. Especially, when drummers just go ham on their kit. The album follows a theme of love, loss, and loneliness that kind of surfaces to the foreground specifically in this song.

Moving on to the sixth and seventh tracks, War (Intro) and War. We have a very lonely guitar playing the intro until the distortion slowly creeps into the track. I absolutely love this. It is kind of representative of what War is like. Starts off slowly, but escalates significantly. The song becomes very graphic as the vocals come in. When we move into War (Outro) it feels like the aftermath and depression post-war. The song is a lot more sombre, while the guitar sounds like it’s a little erratic, symbolic of the state of mind of anyone after a war. While this song is an interlude on the album, it acts like such a fine bridge to the final two songs on the album.

Nostalgia picks up after War (Outro). While it is not as fast as the album started, it feels like the end of the album is near. The album comes down to a more sombre, softer tone. The bass really stands out in these final few tracks. It really encompasses the mix but gives each element its space. The guitar and drums, when they come in, absolutely electrify the song up. I think that Nostalgia is my favourite track on the album, specifically for how progressive it is. This track sounds like everything I want to hear from Polxroid.