Looking Glass War come into view with debut EP ‘Where Neon Meets The Rain’
Boston post-punk glam quartet make a striking statement with its first collection of songs on Friday, September 29
OUT NOW: Listen to ‘Where Neon Meets The Rain’ via Spotify
Led by fiery new single ‘A Tsar Is Torn’ on September 15 and completed with ‘A Gun On A Wall In A Scene’ on the EP’s release day
Listen to Looking Glass War on Spotify
BOSTON, Mass. [September 29, 2023] -- Take a peek into the Looking Glass War, and it's easy to determine what comes into view. For John le Carré’s 1965 spy novel, what reflects back is an exploration of the unglamorous nature of espionage and the danger of nostalgia. Nearly 60 years later, the incendiary Boston post-punk glam band, which takes its moniker from le Carré’s classic, reflects back something similar yet entirely different: An exploration of the unglamorous nature of nostalgia and the danger of the modern day.
That exploration comes into full panoramic view with Where Neon Meets the Rain, Looking Glass War’s debut EP that crashes the streams on Friday, September 29. The record will be previewed on Saturday, September 23 with a live performance at The Jungle Community Music Club in Somerville, the band’s second-ever gig.
Completing the EP is the release of a feverish new single, “A Tsar Is Torn”, set for September 15 surfacing, and the release-day revealing of the EP’s closing track, “A Gun On A Wall In A Scene.” Those two songs follow a pair of summer singles in July’s propulsive and attention-grabbing debut “Arrive!” and August’s expansive and shoegazing “I Can Tell By The Cars.” Both songs immediately placed Looking Glass War on the map, earning global blog praise and radio airplay across the indie circuit, from repeated showings as the #1 Song of the Week on local institution Boston Emissions to earning the endorsement of SiriusXM’s Underground Garage.
But while “Arrive!” and “I Can Tell By The Cars” revealed some of the band’s powderkeg dynamism, the two new tracks complete the larger story, and showcase a solidified vision from its members – vocalist Goddamn Glenn, guitarist Pete Zeigler, Mancunian ex-pat bassist Mike Ackley, and drummer Tony Porter – that recognizes the past without trying to repeat it. After all, that nostalgia can be so unglamorous.
“Many people have told us that they hear something reminiscent of the ‘80s and ‘90s in our music, but that it’s done in a fresh, new way,” says Porter. “I’m psyched to play a part in offering a set of songs that appeal to different generations of rock fans.” Adds Zeigler: “The song-to-song flow is the real first statement from this band, as this EP shows different sides of the whole Looking Glass War sound. As Tony said, we are taking classic post-punk and indie sounds and moving them beyond the derivative and into new territory. Familiar underpinnings but with new twists. That excites me and it isn’t something people get a lot of.”
What music fans in 2023 also don’t get a lot of is a new band with as much to say as Looking Glass War. Brash debut single “Arrive!” embodied a sense of feeling both older while realizing there’s more road ahead, a spirited call to live in the moment. Its follow-up, “I Can Tell By The Cars,” slowed down the tempo for a shoegazing glide that led to an anthemic and explosive chorus, all while lamenting society’s oncoming troubles by surveying the bumper stickers we all see on the highway every day.
“The reason why ‘Arrive!’ was such a fitting opening salvo is that it’s fairly existential,” says Glenn. “There’s a lot of looking back and ahead at the same time. I think that perspective looms throughout all four of these songs in some manner. My nearly 100 year old grandfather passed around the time I started writing lyrics for these songs. I can’t help but think that’s why I’ve been feeling so existential and that my words are heavily informed by that headspace.”
In the two new songs, those themes are furthered – and it’s no coincidence that the order of the singles rollout mirrors that of the EP’s track listing. Like two tracks on each side of the record, this month sees the flip side coming into sonic view with the urgent single “A Tsar Is Torn,” which leans back into the adrenalized post-punk of “Arrive!,” and closing track “A Gun In A Wall In A Scene,” which stretches out into the open-air festival ambition of ‘90s Britpop and alternative rock territory.
“One archetype that has seemed to dominate nearly the last eight years of news cycles is that of the powerful megalomaniac who is willing to burn everything down in their own name,” says Glenn. “‘A Tsar is Torn’ is about how we continually elevate these types of people and help them preserve their own power even when it’s to our own detriment.”
Of “A Gun On A Wall In A Scene,” he adds: “There’s been a kind of breakdown of the barrier that separates the artist from their audience, namely as a result of social media. That’s one idea I’m playing with. That the artist has become much more ‘responsible’ not only for what they create but also everything that they say and do. The other idea is simply that, very often, our fate is clearly spelled out for us far in advance if you just follow the clues. If you are shown a gun on a wall in a scene, it’s done so for a reason. The question then becomes who’s going to pull the trigger and who’s going to go down in the end?”
Where Neon Meets the Rain – its title taken from a lyric in “Arrive!” – was produced by Brian Charles, with assistant engineer Adam Hand; recorded in Massachusetts at Mad Oak Studios in Allston and Rare Signals in Cambridge, MA; and mastered by Peter Linnane. Each track has its own distinct personality and identity, but when aligned together, they combine to make a bold and forceful declaration. Not only of musical range, crafting all the styles and influences of a band of musical veterans making the type of music they themselves would want to listen to, but also pairing this raw, magnetic sound with a message that reflects the tension and uncertainty that seems to mark each passing day of this uneasy modern age. It’s music for the countdown to midnight, at a time when we’re not sure if tomorrow will even happen.
“I’ve been in several bands over the years but musically this one just clicked straight away,” says Ackley. “We all have a lot of experience and bring slightly different influences that converge to create amazing music – the songs almost write themselves. These are songs that I would choose to listen to at home.”
Though they have the panache of a band that’s been around quite some time, and display a sonic complexity and breadth of sound seldom seen in newer bands, Looking Glass War was first sparked by a spontaneous phone call in the boring and otherwise uninspired Fall 2022, where two creative sides with deep roots in the Boston music scene came together to make the music that stirred within. Its members quickly bonded over a shared love of glam, post-punk, modern rock, shoegaze, UK indie, and Britpop, as well as a familiarity from a distance of each other’s past work, which included bands like Parlour Bells, The Easy Reasons, The Rationales, and Strangeways.
The phone call that led to the formation of Looking Glass War was placed by Glenn, who had previously been working with Porter. Looking to start something new in a post-pandemic landscape, he reached out to Zeigler, who, unbeknownst to Glenn, had already been working on new material with Ackley. The alchemy was already simmering.
“Glenn was asking if I was interested in starting something new,” Zeigler adds. “I said, ‘Yes, absolutely’ and he asked if I knew any bassists. Just so happened that Mike and I already had some songs in the works, and were excited about melding them with Glenn and Tony. From the first session, we all knew this was something special and once we all started writing new material together, ironing out our system, it really gelled… I decided to throw away my whole playing style [from prior bands] and start fresh and find a group of true equal partners. This is that for me. Making the art I truly love with great friends and hopefully giving people a soundtrack that is both familiar and new at the same time.”
Ackley agrees: “We really clicked, and were very much coming from the same place musically – based mainly on that ‘80s British post-punk vibe with driving bass and angular guitars. We started writing but despite some ‘interesting’ encounters, really struggled to find a singer that was coming from the same musical place as us and could really bring the tunes to life. Things were getting pretty frustrating, then, as Pete said – he got the call from Glenn out of the blue and Looking Glass War was born.”
And now, a statement is ready to be made, taking four chapters and weaving them together, one thematic storyline at a time, but bound together with a distinct sound that is already easily identifiable as their own. In just four songs, Where Neon Meets the Rain engages our collective emotion like few records made right now.
“We obviously had several other songs to consider recording for the EP, but these four best exemplified what Looking Glass War is all about,” notes Glenn. “The song selection illustrates our range and hopefully gives a sense of what we are capable of.” Zeigler agrees, concluding: “Eventually, this EP could be wrapped into a side of a full album, but these songs were chosen for their impact, and for the voice we wanted to put across. Organic post-punk and glam rock with real drums, a very live feel, and that rawness that tends to be missing more and more.”
One needs not look back, or anticipate forward, to identify with Looking Glass War’s very loud present. Because we’re all currently living it.
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Looking Glass War:
Mike Ackley: Bass
Goddamn Glenn: Vocals
Tony Porter: Drums
Pete Zeigler: Guitar
‘Where Neon Meets The Rain’ production credits:
Produced by Brian Charles
Adam Hand: Assistant Engineer
Recorded at Mad Oak Studios in Allston, MA, and Rare Signals in Cambridge, MA in Spring 2023
Mastered by Peter Linnane
Promotional photography by Coleman Rogers
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Looking Glass War artist bio:
In the Fall of 2022, Goddamn Glenn and Tony Porter (both of Parlour Bells) came together with fellow Boston scene veterans Pete Zeigler (The Easy Reasons, The Rationales) and Mike Ackley (Strangeways) to see what would happen when this group of seasoned indie musicians made noise together. Each needed it as much as the others.
The spark was immediate. A new post-punk-meets-glam sound emerged, melding Glenn’s theatrical vocals with Pete’s shimmering and sputtering post-punk guitar, all driven by Mike’s propulsive UK bass lines and Tony’s precise beats. They called it Looking Glass War.
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Early media praise for Looking Glass War:
The music of Looking Glass War can be heard on Alternative Frequencies, Banks Radio Australia, Blood Makes Noise, Boston Emissions, Boston Groupie News, BumbleBee Radio, Christian’s Cosmic Corner on Mark Skin Radio, Click Roll Boom, Code Zero Radio, Elastic Glam Radio on WKKL, Essentially Pop, Everything You Know Is Wrong on Salem State WMWM, Laura Beth’s Mixtape Show on Reclaimed Radio UK, Marc’s Alt Rock Playground on Mark Skin Radio, Moosic Entertainment, Original Music Showcase on Mark Skin Radio, Phoenix Remix, PipiloPop, Pod Duck, Rising with Skybar on WMFO, Rock And Roll Fables, The Retweeter’s Show on ZenoFM, The Rodney Bingenheimer Show on Little Steven’s Underground Garage on SiriusXM, The Whole Kameese, Turn Up The Volume, UncertainFM, What’s The Frequency on Kinetic 7 Radio, Your First Listen on Eardrum Buzz and KNNZ, and other fine shows, stations, and platforms…
“Proper cool.” _Laura Beth’s Mixtape Show
“Excellent” _The Alternative Frequences Rock Show
“This new Boston band hit bullseye right away with their debut single. ‘Arrive!’ is a bang-on belter spiced with towering vocals. Score!” _Turn Up The Volume
“Boston’s own Looking Glass War blew us away earlier this summer with their debut single ‘Arrive!,’ and now they’re back with a new single that mixes up their sound already. While the previous single was soaked in post-punk and glam, this new one slows things down into a killer power ballad. …While it borrows heavily from more mainstream 80's pop power ballads, there is still plenty of post-punk groove here. It’s kind of like they took the big climactic high school dance sequence from a John Hughes film and filtered it through a John Waters and/or goth prism.” _If It’s Too Loud
“You want range? Yearning for a dynamic sound?? Needing a newer artist to really show you what they’ve got with only a few releases to their name so far??? Then you might wanna tune into what Boston’s Looking Glass War is cooking up because we guarantee you won’t find a more night and day offering between singles than what debut ‘ARRIVE!’ and incoming ‘I Can Tell By The Cars’ have for your earholes.” _Rock & Roll Fables
“I don’t know about anyone else, but when we hear a really good song for the first time, [we] instantly remember where [we] were. That’s exactly what we feel when we listen to ‘Arrive!’... It’s that good, it’s special. The opening riff acts like a doorman saying “Come on in, you’re in the right place – You have arrived!’ Then the vocals kick in and it’s pure freaking magic. Goddamn Glenn sounds like your favorite singer from days gone by but a million times better.” _The Whole Kameese
