Photo by Mikey Duran

Before they were breaking through with their 2022 sophomore standout, Animal Drowning, Knifeplay were finding their footing in their dream-imbued rock atmosphere with their 2019 debut album, Pearlty. Too often these days do we move on from where an artist started and are instead pushed to focus in on only newness, but this week’s five-year anniversary reissue of the Philly band’s promising first glimpse is a critical discovery passage for anyone who appreciates how their identity emerged out of obscurity. “Tears”, its opener, is one of the more profound moments on the album to reveal how before a shadowed density moved into their line of sight in sound, they were challenging the promise of daylight. Though the band has maintained agnostic to being defined as shoegaze or slowcore, the listen’s strum and whisper coupled with deafening tears through the skyline hears Knifeplay searching for their own sound through their inspirations. “Touching our blood / I forgot who I was then / Death made us numb / But everything’s gonna be different now,” sings Tj Strohmer. Affixed to its music video directed by Ben Turok, words and energy couldn’t be any more ominous…

Directed by: Ben Turok

Knifeplay’s Pearlty is available now on Topshelf Records.