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Jun 20, 2017 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

Over the years we’ve probed Ride again and again about the possibility of new music. Kudos to them for keeping coy through all of our haranguing (which, no doubt, they’ve received from everyone they’ve ever spoken to in the 20 years since their dissolution.) When and if a new album did arrive it would be up against staggeringly high expectations. When rumors were finally confirmed, there was a growing sense that Weather Diaries could only be one of two things: the record that lived up to fans’ dreams, or the one that crushed them.

Those hoping for some of that classic, early Ride sound—psychedelic pop songs wrapped up in a thick overcoat of overdrive and distortion—need look no further than the album’s blissful, 7-minute title track, in which melancholic harmonies and guitar work swell into mountainous walls of artfully muffled fuzz. Likewise, tracks like “Lateral Alice” and “Charm Assault” recall the harder-driving efforts from their first two records. More than just a retread of old territory, though, Weather Diaries is the most polished-sounding record they’ve assembled. (Unsurprising, given they’ve had decades to mature as musicians over their divergent careers.) This is not only in the sense that the production is slick, but the songs are more intricately arranged than ever before and their hook-filled melodies—always Ride’s most underappreciated weapon—have been pulled to the surface. It’s not a wart-less record—they get a little heavy-handed with the synths here and there—but this can be considered no less than an exultant return for the long-dormant stomp box heroes. In the scheme of things, Weather Diaries may only be the band’s third best LP; however, when it’s coming in behind Nowhere and Going Blank Again, two of the most worshiped discs of the shoegaze era, deserving mention within the same breath is no small feat. (www.thebandride.com)

Author rating: 8/10