7/10

There is a certain confidence that comes from musicians who no longer feel the need to prove where they came from. And on their new release 'Before You Get Broken', Seattle's Guest Directors carry decades of underground rock history within their sound, but the album never feels trapped by nostalgia or genre loyalty. Instead, it sounds like the work of a band fully comfortable following instinct wherever it leads.

Formed by former members of TAD and Chinchilla, Guest Directors naturally retain traces of the heavy, noisy alternative rock scenes that shaped them, but 'Before You Get Broken' expands far beyond simple shoegaze revivalism. Across nine tracks, the band move fluidly between distortion-heavy post-punk, jangling dream-pop textures, power-pop melody and moments of surprising emotional warmth.

Opening track 'Meet You on the Land' immediately establishes that wider emotional palette. Beneath its shimmering guitars and delay-soaked atmosphere sits an unexpectedly playful narrative centred around refusal and independence. The song feels airy without losing momentum, introducing the album’s recurring tension between beauty and abrasion.

Then 'You Are Never' pushes harder into the band’s noisier instincts, channelling the wiry unease of Sonic Youth and Unwound without becoming derivative. The guitars grind and twist against each other while the rhythm section drives forward with sharp precision. There is aggression here, but it remains controlled as it plays.

Elsewhere, 'Now I Know' stands out as one of the album’s most emotionally direct moments. Framed as a response to The Afghan Whigs’ 'Gentlemen', the track transforms bitterness into something more reflective and emotionally mature. The post-punk influence is unmistakable, but the songwriting remains rooted in melody rather than mood alone.

One of the album’s strongest qualities is its understanding of pacing. After several denser tracks, songs like 'So Many Somedays' and 'At the Gate' introduce broader arrangements that soften the album’s edges without losing emotional depth. These quieter moments widen the emotional scope of the record and allow the band’s melodic sensibilities to surface more clearly.

While 'Just Not Today' may best represent the band’s ability to balance shoegaze atmosphere with rock immediacy. The layered dual guitars create a dense wash, but there is still a strong melodic core underneath the distortion. And Guest Directors understand that texture only matters when it serves the emotional movement of the song itself.

By the time closer 'What Shapes They Take' arrives, the album fully embraces its noisier instincts once again. Swirling guitars, driving rhythms and dense layers of sound build toward a finale that feels truly expansive, reminding us of the band’s deep roots in heavier underground music while still maintaining the melodic focus that defines the record as a whole.

What ultimately makes 'Before You Get Broken' so effective is its refusal to settle comfortably into one identity. It is shoegaze-adjacent without being genre-bound, melodic without becoming lightweight, and noisy without sacrificing emotional clarity. More than anything, it is music created by artists who understand both the power of volume and the importance of restraint.

For a band that began almost accidentally as a side project, Guest Directors now sound fully realised, offering something thoughtful, dynamic and entirely comfortable occupying the space between distortion and vulnerability.