my anti-aircraft friend is a bold leap, both showcasing a louder, more assured band, while also attaining a core sound the band had been chasing all along. After all those years tinkering and refining their sound, julie’s forthcoming debut album is the work of people who have become steeped in alternative music’s history, learned how it works within their own musical sensibilities, and now use it to warp conventions and turn tropes on their head. Additionally, with each member of the band a multidisciplinary artist – Pourzand does sculpture work and Brady writes and paints, while Lee is also a painter as well as illustrator – the band deliberates and conceives every element of their releases, not just the music but the art and packaging, all the way down to what instruments they play onstage. For listeners who came of age amidst global pandemics, tumultuous political climates, and a host of looming natural and social crises, the sound of a band like julie could equally be a cathartic escape, or a shelter in which to locate a better sense of self-acceptance in a precarious world.
