Split Chain return with “Scatterbrain,” a heavier, sharper follow-up to motionblur

Heavy shoegaze may be everywhere at the moment, but Bristol’s Split Chain at least know how to inject the style with some urgency. They’re not reinventing the lane so much as pushing through it with enough force to make the comparison to Deftones feel less like a lazy shorthand and more like part of the appeal. After releasing their full-length debut motionblur last year, the band have now followed it with “Scatterbrain,” a revved-up, drum-heavy new track that keeps the pressure on.

The single lands as another sign of how quickly Split Chain have moved from debut mode into something more self-assured. Where plenty of new heavy shoegaze acts lean into haze for its own sake, “Scatterbrain” sounds built for impact, with the kind of momentum that suggests a band interested in making the genre feel physical again. It is also very much in line with the emotional register the group has already established.

Like all of our other music, “Scatterbrain” comes from personal experiences growing up that we’re sure everyone can relate with to some degree. It’s a song about the slow degradation of friendships, relationships, and family ties – how all of a sudden, when things can seem to be at their best, the other person in the relationship, friendship, or the family member seems to stop pulling their weight. They start to get caught up in their own thing, get lost in their head, and either consciously or subconsciously pull away without providing any reason whatsoever, leaving the other person with nothing but feelings of abandonment, unrequited love, and questions.

motionblur is out 7/11 on Epitaph.

Listen below.