About

noise beneath the floor

Noise Beneath the Floor isn’t for the faint of heart. It isn’t just that their debut LP, A Year in Exile, is a concept album–they’re a concept band, one preoccupied with dreams and death and the ocean and memory. Their first album, which is about a fictional sunken town called Exile, CT, is dense and intricate without ever sacrificing melody or accessibility.

Songs like the chiming “The Way I’ll Die” and single “We All Belong Here” have skyscraping hooks, leaning into vocalist Gavin McIntire’s natural charisma, and Jade Marié’s synth work lends some levity to “Wherever It Finds You” and “12:02 PM.” Other songs wind their ways to  breathtaking crescendos, like the ten-minute block of the soaring epic “Carnivore” and the eerie, heavy “Leave Behind,” which features one of bassist Garrett Pavlansky’s best performances. Producer Chris Teti (of TWIABP fame) produced and co-wrote much of the record, and his touch helped guide the expansive post-rock of the second half of “Carnivore.” It’s a record that benefits from understanding the context and concept without requiring it. For example, although A Year in Exile was written and recorded well before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the United States, McIntire notes that fans unfamiliar with the storyline will still relate to its themes––the exile in the title is a metaphorical, self-imposed one, but one that finds parallels in quarantine.  

Noise Beneath the Floor’s been working tirelessly on a follow-up, particularly now that the band’s lineup has been solidified with new addition Ethan Rucker on drums. In the meantime, though, they’ve been letting out a slow drip of singles that show off the band’s versatile sound. “The End of Everything,” a B-side from the Year in Exile sessions, is a bouncy pop rock jam, and their recently-released acoustic take on “The Way I’ll Die” transforms the jaunty rocker into a funereal dirge. And “Washed,” the band’s upcoming single (out on Valentine’s Day), introduces squeaky beats into the band’s palette, adding a new dimension to their spacious indie rock sound. It doesn’t last too long, but it’s enough to give the track a unique feeling in the band’s catalog. No one knows where Noise Beneath the Floor will go next, but it’s clear the sky’s the limit.

-Zachary Djamoos