Soundpool - Mirrors In Your Eyes

The explosive third album sees this NY-based 5-piece stepping out onto the dancefloor,... without leaving their guitars and dreamy effects behind! After building a loyal following in the independent shoegaze scene Soundpool have enhanced their palette and, in turn, crafted a pop masterpiece. The nine songs are infectious, overflowing with strong bass hooks, driving beats, shimmering guitars, and Kim Fields' captivating, ethereal voice. The LP comes with a special download code to download MP3s of the entire LP while the CD comes with bonus enhanced content of five music videos.

"an enjoyable, stylish record." - Joseph Hale, Tiny Mix Tapes

Dance dreams! This album is totally hip-shake-able but at the same time a bunch of sonic landscapes to close your eyes and get lost in. Here is the make-up: swirling guitars among other pretty guitar tricks, moving beats, female vocals, bass hooks, and a dash of synth flares here and there to make dance-y shoegaze. Also a touch of glamorous fab. Unrelated personal note: Put Killer Pimp on labels to watch. - KUCI

Soundpool is certainly no stranger to these pages, as their first two albums have both popped up here at some point or another in the past. It seems like months ago, maybe because it was, that they were already moving forward with putting out a third album. However it wasn't until earlier this year that the band put out their first single for it, "But It's So" through the Killer Pimp label�grabbing my attention once again. While the band has always incorporated a great deal of dance/electronic elements to their sound it's clearly much more of fixture here on their new album Mirrors In Your Eyes. While it may or may not be their intention, even the title kind of gives allusion to stepping out on the dance floor and being covered by the reflecting spinning light of your typical club setting. Some may be asking thinking "dance?", and yeah I would honestly be doing the same if I were reading this, however Soundpool combine this with the ethereal and occasionally space-like sounds of shoegaze to create something that has been fairly interesting and quite enjoyable to listen to over the span of their two previous albums On High and Dichotomies & Dreamland respectively. Their latest album continues this bit of experimentation and has come out with what seems to be the bands most balanced and arguably strongest release. If there was one gripe about their previous material, it was that there was really very little differentiation between the two earlier albums. Mirrors in Your Eyes goes a long way to move forward, by shifting the danceable elements of the bands sound to the forefront and omitting the ambient segues that were found before on earlier material. It works, as it turns out the be a wonderfully executed mixture of pulsing beats and dreamy fuzz. Recommended for sure. - Built on a Weak Spot

One of the many aspects about Kim Fields' voice - and the most obvious one for that matter - is that it sounds softly hushed while still maintaining a breathy lushness that matches her band's music fittingly well. Soundpool aren't so much another electronic group because in essence, this is a true band making some gripping, terrific music. While they've always prevailed with a strong sense of electronics and how reverbs can make for moving times, their singer has always been the one to make it all sound, well, that much better. Though they've definitely caught our attention with their fantastic "And It's So" single, a lead song that quite frankly transcends beyond its own specific genre. Fields' voice, gentle and stirring, is a force to be reckoned with because it combines all the elements into one swooping fist of color. It provided a landscape that would be hard to beat - given the effectiveness of both of its dancefloor ready cuts and the melodic timbre - but on Mirrors in Your Eyes, the outcome is both exemplary and blindingly excellent. These are the kinds of sounds that make it far too easy to get lost into. Waves of heavy synths can take over one song and little by little you have the influence of other notable guitar-heavy bands, most notably someone like U2 and the way the Edge would curtail his guitar to match any given mood or theme. On "I'm So Tired," the drums and keyboards paint a sweetly tailored room that is waiting for any kind of tension. When the guitar comes crashing in, it almost sounds as if "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)" is roaring into the night, when really it's just the sound of the band turning into something far more substantial than expected. Such lasting moments come on every song and it makes for a rewarding album on every possible level. When mentioning 'dancefloor cuts,' you have to realize what premise it carries on its own. "But It's So" is, as expected, perfectly positioned after the opening song's honest introduction; but it's the album's sequencing and overall cohesive feel that makes it that much more likely to age well. "Kite of Love" comes through with a funky bass that leads into a musically rich layer filled with cloudy synths and 90s style beats. In channeling past shoegaze experts like Blonde Redhead, Soundpool is able to inject the right amount of modifications and alterations to reveal a strong showing of skill. It especially comes in handy on something like "Listen" and its moving percussion line and rumbling guitar. Shower it with the right mix of noisy feedback (never too aggressive to disturb), add layers of pedal tones on top of minor chords and top it off with a singer that is able to also adapt her voice to fit the music and you have a winning formula. The same could be said about many other bands out there but one feature that's hard to attain and invaluable is the masterful craft of flow. Not only does Mirrors in Your Eyes contain an undeniable amount of wonderful songs, it also presents them in one of the finer sequencing jobs of the year. It adds up to Soundpool being able to showcase all of their strengths and yes, that voice too, in what is yet another solid amount of captivating music. - Bryan Sanchez, Delusions of Adequacy

An unstoppable sugar rush for the ears, Soundpool's Mirrors In Your Eyes serves up nine infectious, hook-filled songs that draw from electro-pop, disco, and shoegaze in equal measure. Leading the charge are Kim Field's lighter-than-air vocals, John Ceparano's guitar washes, Mark Robinson's shimmering synthetic atmospheres, and drummer James Renard and bassist Sanford Santacroce, a rhythm section clearly well-schooled in the art of funk. Throughout the album, Field's angelic voice floats serenely overtop a rich base of earthy rhythmning and raw guitar flourishes. The album whirrs into motion with the title track's disco-funk splendor, its pulsating bass lines and ethereal vocals aglow with shoegaze radiance. Ceparano contributes some suitably heavy guitar wail while bassist extraordinaire Santacroce adds to the song's core pulse with inspired variations. "But It's So" is as satisfying in its pairing of a thick disco groove and soaring vocal melodies, while "Kite of Love" digs into its funk beat with gusto. Following a synth strings intro, "Makes No Sense" slams into position with pounding electro and guitar atmospherics that render Field's lyrics all but indecipherable (Ceparano stretches out even more powerfully in an epic solo turn on "I'm So Tired" and almost buries his band-mates with molten fuzz during "That Sunny Day"). Not that that matters much anyway, as Mirrors In Your Eyes rises or falls on the strength of its sound and songs, not lyrics, and on such grounds it wholly succeeds. Sounding for all the world like the ideal addition to a Goldfrapp double-bill (the surging dynamo "Shelter" in particular sounds tailor-made for Soundpool's better-known kin), the NY-based quintet delivers on its third album a euphoric and near-perfect realization of its intended sound. Also worth keeping an eye out for is a planned twelve-inch EP featuring remixes by Strategy, Colder, Lawrence Chandler (Bowery Electric), and GTO. - Textura

I've had the new Soundpool record on repeat for most of the past week. At the start of the year I had no idea they were even planning on releasing an LP, so when Mirrors in your Eyes dropped, I was pleasantly surprised since I'd already been charmed senseless by On High and Dichotomies and Dreamland. Listening to it, I think of the music critic clich� often used to describe a pleasing follow-up attempt by a band: 'mature'. Bands 'mature', they develop a more 'mature' sound and create an album more 'mature' than its predecessors. What does that even mean? Is a band mature when it creates an album with an expertly engineered playlist crafted to ensure the songs seamlessly flow into each other like semi-set jelly? Surely not - they must need to be able to skilfully include some sort of distinction amongst the tracks - they must be able to demonstrate an ability to work with a myriad of styles and variations without faltering or appearing to be paddling hopelessly out of their depth. I hadn't pondered the meaning of that single word when used in the context of writing about records till I listened to Mirrors in your Eyes. I listened and then I listened again. And the I listened a few more times because I could hear something in it. I could hear maturity. It's easy enough to be a well-loved shoegaze band - the core sound structures of the genre are so inherently beautiful that even the most derivative ensembles can produce pieces of sheer magic. Piggybacking on influences is not a concern, it is usually welcomed and warmly rewarded. The more you manage to sound like Slowdive, the more we will love you. Only Soundpool aren't doing that. Anymore. They've abandoned the camouflage of their last albums and thrown themselves into gazer territory that I have never seen charted before: Discogaze. Yep, straight of the bat we're hit hard on the head with a spinning mirrorball that establishes the album as one TO BE SHARED. This is not introspective music you beg for comfort as you to curl up in a dark corner of your barely-lit room when you're going through one of your emo phases. This is music you haphazardly pogo stick to in the middle of a barely-lit club while psychedelic light stencils flash erratically over you and your posse. I'd like to make an exception for 'Makes No Sense', however. The polish of production has significantly glossed up the version we were so far familiar with. This is a song I want to keep to myself, all to myself and not share with anyone. I love the early 90s college mixtape feel of it. I love the blissfully fuzzed out vocals. I love the guitar that crashes over Kim's voice in the second verse - her completely incomprehensible words remaining disaffectedly stoic despite the wonderfully rude interruption. And I love the slippery hook that lasts the duration of the song manifesting itself in every facet of the song, repeating itself over and over and like some sort of white powder - sugar, salt or cocaine - leaving you craving more, leaving you positively aching to sing along, but helpless to do anything more than hit 'repeat'. It's followed by a sweet little number that calls itself 'Sparkle in the Dark' (can't have a gazer album without a word like 'sparkle' in one of the tracks). It's the perfect comedown after its brain-blending predecessor - a thoughtfully chosen dessert wine that drops you lightly back onto the Studio 54-y dancefloor. And that's where you remain as your night draws on. Even a song like 'I'm So Tired' leaves you swaying lazily, head tossed back, as you allow your body to recharge. Incredibly comforting, 'That Sunny Day' propels itself along on the wheels of a semi-distant fade in/out bada-bahbah-bah-BAH hook. They must have sensed your second wind because final tracks and possible cousins 'Shelter' and 'Listen' swoop in at just the right moment offering your weary but still mobile self exceptionally shimmery melodies with beats perfectly timed to ensure you remain happily mobile and conveniently ignorant of how they're winding you down at the end of the night. No, no - no mopey faces. The album's over, but remember that 'repeat' button you have at your disposal. I'm using mine to drown in 'Makes No Sense' again, but feel free to release the prismatic evening as many times as you like. - Alget Eaters

Soundpool's second album might come as something of a shock to anyone who liked the dreamy shoegaze of their previous albums. While there was an undercurrent of dance music that bubbled up from time to time (mostly in the programmed drums), on the group's 2010 album Mirrors in Your Eyes the dance influence moves front and center. Someone in the band must have discovered disco in between albums, because the songs here are built on grooves that sound borrowed from a Cerrone album or a Sister Sledge 12". The top layer is still pure shoegaze with tons of guitar atmospherics, keyboard washes, and breathy vocals (provided in lovely fashion by Kim Field), but the drums and bass below are dialed into grooves that are almost funky at times. It's an exciting idea and the band pulls it off quite well, adding a welcome dimension of glamour and invention to its shoegaze-worshiping sound. They manage to go their inspirations one better by fully integrating the dance music influence into their gaze instead of just grafting on a drum loop and claiming "there's always been an element of dance music in our sound," as so many first-wave gazers did. Indeed, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better example of blending the two styles than songs like "But It's So" and "Listen." The band has a firm grip on dynamics and sound, and while the album is short on immediate hooks, it draws you in right away and holds you in the shadowy, dreamy discoth�que until the haze of guitars fades. Soundpool may be nostalgic revivalists at heart, but if they had made Mirrors in Your Eyes back in 1991, we'd be talking about Soundpool in the same reverential tones that people talk about Slowdive and Chapterhouse today. - Tim Sendra, All Music Guide

Two words; "Shimmering Inventiveness". Ahh, Soundpool, one of my favorite Shoegaze acts has returned. With each album, "Mirrors In Your Eyes" being their third, the band re-invents it's sound all while maintaining a familiar formula. On their latest offering Soundpool take a shot at what the band dub's "Disco Gaze". What? Another new genre?? Yes! I do believe it is! But seriously, I couldn't imagine strapping a better title on this one. Think Ladytron does Shoegaze.. Blaring guitar melodies, distortions-a-palooza, filtered keyboard sounds (some air-y synths & some dancey arpeggiations), female vocals as sweet as can be with a few male vocals thrown in as well, and the bounciest bass lines I've heard since !!!'s "Louden Up Now". "Mirrors In Your Eyes" delivers. It has something for everyone. Well everyone into great music that is. The parts that are Shoegaze tend to shine a little more than the Disco parts, but only slightly. Honestly, I struggle with which parts to focus on, the dancey parts are super catchy, but the distorted guitar fx are just soo damn good. Either way I'm quite confident that you will find something amicable to your taste buds within each and every track on "Mirrors In Your Eyes". And, if Soundpool continues on their chosen path with re-inventing themselves on each new release they may change Shoegaze/Dream Pop music as we know it.. Marke my words, these guys are only gonna get bigger and bigger. One of 2010's best Gaze albums for sure. Also one of the best Pop albums I've heard in a bit. Recommended for fans of MBV, Slowdive, Ulrich Schnauss, Goldfrapp (sort of), Asobi Seksu, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, and anyone else that falls along the lines of those bands. Yep, you should probably buy this and then after you finally get over the obsession seek out the rest of this bands impressive catalogue. Thanks for sharing Soundpool, keep up the great work! Standout Tracks: All (It's hard to be picky here..) - Everything Is Chemical

New York's Soundpool release their third shoegazer album, Mirrors in Your Eyes, on the Killer Pimp label. The gorgeous vocals, dance beats, and wall-of-sound guitar riffs solidify Soundpool's place at the top of the genre. Lovers of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless will appreciate the familiar sound of effects-laden tremolo, and new fans may find the album's accessibility more to their liking. "Mirrors in Your Eyes" opens up Soundpool's latest album of the same name with dream-like vocals, a subtle dance beat, and cleanly distorted guitar. "But It's So" emphasizes their mastery of the shoegazer dance style, dropping the guitar and putting the beat in the spotlight. A virtual whirlwind of guitar on "Kite of Love" shimmers before giving way to the weightier synth beat on "Makes No Sense." "I'm So Tired" is a standout track, proving that Soundpool need not rely on a synthetic drumbeat to call their songs dance music. A genuine funk lazily settles over the track before the last third of the album fades out with their trademark atmospheric haze. Reminiscent of early 90's My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, Soundpool generate an instant feeling of nostalgia. The guitar or lyrics do not approach the mastery of My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, and the band as a whole are not as original as Slowdive, yet that hardly matters here. The adroit use of sound on Mirrors in Your Eyes proves that Soundpool can borrow from the past while remaining unique and fresh. In the modern shoegazer genre, that is originality. - Jack Randall, The Whiskey Dregs

Ethereal-dream pop (and now disco sounding) band Soundpool have released a new video from the song "Kite OF Love" from their latest album "Mirrors In Your Eyes." Soundpool continue to impress with their sound and vision as a band with three albums under their belt now, the latest taking on a retro disco vibe. "Mirrors In Your Eyes" has broadened their horizons as song writers and composers - and has us here wondering where they may go in the future for their next effort. In the meantime enjoy the "Kite Of Love" video. - Glasswek National

Of all the bands reviving, revisiting and reliving the age of shoegaze, Soundpool may have the most original approach. Sure, they have sighing vocals (female), walls of loud and fuzzy guitars as expected, but on their new album Mirrors in Your Eyes, the band adds shimmering disco-inspired rhythms. It's not a total shock to hear since so many of the original shoegaze groups grafted dance elements onto their sound (to varying degrees of success). What's surprising here is how well the group integrates the dance floor-friendly feel into their dreamy songs. Check "Kite of Love" for an example - and while you're at it, enjoy the hazy video that expertly captures the blurred dreamvision that extreme heat and allergies can bring. - Allmusic video of the day, July 7, 2010

Never has the name of a band so aptly described their sound. Soundpool creates dense, shoegazey soundscapes draped in layer upon layer of guitars, keyboards and surreal, swirling vocals. It's a combination of disco and shoegaze, yet another combination no one thought they needed. It's easy to nod your head too and hard not to like. - Andrew Baer, No Ripcord

The 3rd full length of the New-York based Soundpool has been announced as an evolution in style. Soundpool has been often describes as a shoegaze band, which is an influence they wanted to leave a bit more behind for "Mirrors In Your Eyes". You can still perceive the shoegaze influence, but the majority of the songs reveal some explicit pop fields. Well, don't expect a pure and typical pop release, but an interesting merge of different influences coming from a band that walked a bit more unto the pop direction. The opening title track is an efficient illustration from this progression. It sounds quite sensual, danceable through the groovy rhythmic and leaded by the sweet and sexy vocals of Kim Field. "But It's So" coming next moves on a similar way. I here especially enjoyed the atmospheric guitar effect. It's just a pity that after this rather astonishing debut the album progressively starts to stagnate. The guitar play by John Ceparano remains one of the strongest elements from this album. This guitarist is a virtuoso who pushes Soundpool to a higher dimension. "Shelter" is an appropriated song confirming his talent. This musician is the main force behind the album. I can't speak about a major success rather than a fruitful evolution in sound! - Side-Line

"The meeting place between shoegazer and dance music is one that has proven wildly successful, but arrived upon all too infrequently. My Bloody Valentine's "Soon" is the most sublime example of just how mesmerizing a heavy swath of effects-treated guitars can be when backed with propulsive, high energy beats. Likewise, Caribou's Dan Snaith has explored this realm on Up In Flames and on subsequent releases, with compelling variations each time out. But New York's Soundpool is one of the rare bands that can actually lay claim to being a shoegazer disco band, rather than one that merely sprinkles their songs with like elements. On their newest album Mirrors In Your Eyes, Soundpool pair their fuzzy dream pop sound with hedonistic funk, creating deliciously danceable anthems like the album's blissful title track. Wah-wah guitar subtly scratches beneath a hazy sheen, while Kim Fields sings a druggy siren song between its ethereal ribbons of melody. "But It's So," meanwhile, eases off the distortion while beefing up the funk, resulting in a hallucinatory Studio 54 hybrid. "Kite of Love" is utterly gorgeous, finding a delicate balance between swirling guitars and hip gyrations, while "Makes No Sense" substitutes big, throbbing synthesizers for steel strings. And "Sparkle In the Dark" is one of the most intriguing compositions, taking Garbage's blueprint on "Stupid Girl" and getting it soused and slutty and ready for a night of pleasurable mistakes. The ideas that Soundpool blends together on Mirrors In Your Eyes all work together so magnificently, it's enough to make you wonder why few have made as much of a commitment to this idea in the past. Ulrich Schnauss has called Soundpool the "best fucking band in the world," and while I may not necessarily use those exact words, I can appreciate the enthusiasm. Music that feels this good is bound to elicit wild bouts of hyperbole." - Jeff Terich, Treble

"Soundpool brought back shoegaze in a wondrous way with their previous two albums. And whilst they keep their unique sound about them - for their third venture they have done a Goldfrapp and decided to explore something akin to the disco sound of the 70's. But where Goldfrapp sounded like Goldfrapp gone disco in the cheesiest sense, Soundpool have wisely gone disco with dignity intact. So it wouldn't be fair to describe their work as retro on this album as it keeps a modern feel about it. The keyboard programming is as desolate as ever, whilst James Renard's Beats and John Ceparano's Bass and guitar build a strong rythym for Kim Field's voice to work her magic around. Knowing that this album didn't start off as the end result dictated - it is interesting to see how the band have layered their music and redirected focus. With a loose base in the groundwork it is also easy to see that had they been inspired another way musically at the time that the work could have grown and branched out in a very different direction altogether. That isn't to say that they have merely layered in dance beats like a lazy remixed version of a song - but they have taken the music composition and vocal work in that direction too. For your classic disco sound 'Makes no Sense' has a lot of playful "Doo doo doo" about it whereas 'Sparkle In the Dark' combines probably the most effective blend of Soundpool's previous sound to date as well as the new dance themes. 'I'm So Tired' is a prime example of a great song that is done very simply: An album highlight that expresses a lot of the bands charm, as well as being very atmospheric. In the end we are left with an album that is a brave choice for the band to have taken - and for all their efforts it hasn't tarnished anything they have built thus far. I don't know if i'd want to hear them going down the same path again - but it has given me a taste for what other genres they could put their stamp on. Growth, expansion and ideas are what bands like this toy around with so well. So looking to their future is already something to be interested in. " - Steven Hurst, Glasswerk

the band's best work yet. A mixture of new wave, pop and shoegaze which works surprisingly well - Girls Sold Out

"Disco base hooks and infectious shimmering guitar jumbles, a canonball of cosmic sounds, sexy, dreamy" - WVKR

"One of New York's reigning champions of dream pop are on the verge of releasing their third full-length Mirrors In Your Eyes. But rather than use the same formula all over again that gained their sophomore album Dichotomies+Dreamland success, the five piece took elements of what's moving New York today. Disco and electro-pop has found a new home in the corners of city and it also found its way into Soundpool's new album. This is going to be a mind blowing release for Soundpool. This is going to be an album TO GET which will be released by Killer Pimp April 27, 2010." - Twenty Seven Views

"Soundpool's heavily layered, dreamy tunes conjure up images of a queen soaring on a throne made of clouds, singing while her smiling band mates float beside her. Vocalist Kim Field's pure, angelic voice ranges from sexy, deeper notes to high-pitched melodies that mirror her keyboard playing. Active yet appropriately subtle, drummer James Renard works with the bassist to form a tight rhythm section, creating an urgent, driving groove. The nonstop, ethereal synths compliment the angular, sometimes haunting guitar, which recalls the sounds of 70s psychedelia, 80s pop and 90s shoegaze. Soundpool's supremely pleasing music leaves listeners with a euphoric high that.s only heightened in their dynamic live performances. - Becky Firesheets, The Deli

"thick, dreamy shoegazing guitar jumble, driven by an even thicker disco beat" - Max Sebela, Jezebel Music

"Post-shoegaze ambient dance with a canonball of cosmic sounds" - Kenyon, Advance Copy

"Soundpool would be an awesome Transformers character. Just think of the myriad of possibilities that this robot could transform into! Soundpool could be a gun that emits sonic frequencies consisting of disco, shoegazey and spacey funk." - Ventvox

"The best fucking band in the world!" - Ulrich Schnauss

"Reminiscent of French pop via Air or Stereolab... fine dream pop." - Pitchfork

"Captivating blend of shoegaze, space rock and wonderful soundscapes" - Radiofreedavid.com

"Few new artists match Soundpool's vocal delivery and sonic awareness" - Musicisnotdead

"Slowdive for the new millennium" - David Mansdorf, Losing Today

"When Lush wrote Sweetness and Light at the height of shoegazing, I wonder if they had anticipated Soundpool" - Brett Spaceman, EVILSPONGE