‘…Between moments of rambunctious, scrappy punk and jangling, wistful acoustics, ‘WHAT IF I’M ALWAYS GONNA BE THIS WAY?’ constructs a tale of learning to acclimatise after trauma or change…’
Describing themselves as an ‘atmospheric indie rock band’, Noise Beneath the Floor have been releasing music since 2020, although the Ohio-based four-piece have been writing together for far longer than that. Their debut album, ‘A YEAR IN EXILE‘, was completed in 2019, yet faced a delay in release until 2021 thanks to the onset of the COVID pandemic. Despite this, the band did manage to release a self-titled EP during 2020, and already set about working on their sophomore release before they could even release their debut.
Birthed in the midst of an episode of writer’s block, set within a DIY studio during the midst of the 2020 height of COVID, ‘WHAT IF I’M ALWAYS GONNA BE THIS WAY?‘ stood a real chance of never coming to fruition; even the band admit that the record was nearly scrapped entirely at multiple times across its production. However, four years later, what noise beneath the floor have released makes for a wonderful indie rock listen that certainly deserves your attention before the year is out.
Between moments of rambunctious, scrappy punk and jangling, wistful acoustics, ‘WHAT IF I’M ALWAYS GONNA BE THIS WAY?’ constructs a tale of learning to acclimatise after trauma or change, having been written in the wake of the COVID pandemic; this is an album that is picking up the pieces from the wreckage, and putting them into a shape that imperfectly resembles what came before. Themes of loss, heartbreak and the grief of adulthood are all alluded to, whilst the album permits enough room for the listener to easily attribute their own experiences to this record.
Take the luscious ‘washed’, with its gentle acoustic strumming, dreamy melodies, and twinkling guitars. The mourning of a broken relationship is an easy interpretation to make, with lyrics such as ‘I’m on the outside looking in, at all the people that we’ve been/And there’s a song here to be sung, of how everything came undone’. However, it’s not difficult to look a little closer and view the track through the lens of gender dysphoria and the experience of coming out to a conservative community (‘And it turns out I can’t take it, ’cause I spent too long trying to fake it/If it’s who I am then replace it, break it, let the whole thing wash away’).
‘wasted potential’ is both a call-to-arms to live your dreams, and a scathing self-criticism of someone trapped by their own past and fears. Despite the fairly bleak lyricism (‘At the end of your life/Catch a glimpse of the shine/Off your wasted potential’), it’s brilliantly infectious song that captures a real 2010’s indie rock flair; the choruses demand to be sang along to, buoyed by playful riffs and driving rhythms, whilst the manner in which the vocals are arranged give them a subtle gang-vocal sound.
‘the end of everything‘ showcases the band’s gorgeous dual vocals perfectly, with rousing harmonies intertwining around one another over a buoyant instrumental that layers simple poppy riffing over bouncing rhythms. ‘skin‘ features gently looping guitar melodies and prancing rhythms, leaning more so into the subtle bedroom pop and shoegaze undercurrents of the band’s sound to give a beautifully bittersweet conclusion to the album, perfectly encapsulating their cinematic streak. The album may only be a concise eight tracks long, but each and every one plays perfectly into the next, and by the dying moments of ‘skin‘, as the words ‘you’re the reason I’m staying alive‘ are repeated, you truly feel as though Noise Beneath the Floor have taken you on a journey from hopelessness to hope.
This perfectly encapsulates the fact that, despite all of its melancholy, ‘WHAT IF I’M ALWAYS GONNA BE THIS WAY?’ still possesses a deep sense of hope for the future throughout, with an admiration for the terrifying beauty of transience; destruction of the self can begat wonderful change, even if in the moment in truly doesn’t feel that way. In every way, the album serves as a brilliant reminder to be true to yourself; this sense of endeavouring to exist is seemingly a core tenet of Noise Beneath the Floor, a band that started out as the world was ending, and has managed to come out of the other side. Truly, ‘WHAT IF I’M ALWAYS GONNA BE THIS WAY?‘ makes for the perfect soundtrack to these cold, dark winter months.
RATING: 78/100 – Mostly Very Good
For Fans Of: Manchester Orchestra, Topiary Creatures, A Place for Owls, Quiet Company, Mew
Physical copies are available to purchase here.
Follow the band on social media below:
VINYL FANTASY REVIEWS 
Leave a comment