The members of Minor Victories – Rachel Goswell of Slowdive, Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, Justin Lockey of Editors, and James Lockey of Hand Held Cine Club – surfaced in July 2015 when they announced their debut album in 2015, complete with appearances by Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon and James Graham of The Twilight Sad. In May, a video for “Breaking My Light” was released and in June, their self-titled album dropped. This week, Minor Victories has shared a video for their song “Cogs.” Check out the clip below.
The band has been coy about their identifier, carefully not labelling themselves a “supergroup.” It makes sense; Minor Victories’ name-recognition pales in comparison to their would-be peers. But tracks like “Cogs” are a glaring reminder that the members of Minor Victories are in fact group of musicians putting together a collaborative side project, one that – for better or worse – is exactly equal to the sum of their parts. “Cogs” does not break any new ground for any of Minor Victories, but does deliver what we love most about these artists: Slowdive’s shoegaze, Mogwai’s sense of adventure, and the driving guitar paired with a looming sense of oppression and helplessness that Editors brought to tracks like “Munich.” Any fan of these revived indie acts will appreciate more of the sound they loved in the 90’s that if not groundbreaking, is still beautiful.
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