B-Side Guys

Portsmouth’s Sierpinski wields reverb like a weapon of mass distraction on “Alright, OK,” creating a deceptively dreamy soundscape that masks its haunting narrative core. The six-piece outfit demonstrates how shoegaze’s wall of sound can serve not just as aesthetic choice, but as powerful metaphor for psychological denial.

The band’s command of their chosen forms – drawing from both ’60s psychedelia and ’90s shoegaze – manifests in waves of textured guitars that wash over the listener while a propulsive rhythm section maintains earthbound momentum. This duality creates a perfect vessel for the song’s exploration of self-deception and its consequences.

The lyrics cut through the instrumental haze with uncomfortable precision. “That’s the thing, when you’re addicted / You don’t see the wounds that you’ve inflicted” opens with stark clarity before the chorus’s mantra of “It’ll be alright” takes on an increasingly desperate quality. The seemingly reassuring addition of “’cause Jesus loves us all” carries a weight of irony, particularly when followed by “That’s the thing, when you’re fixated / You don’t see the mess that you’ve created.”

Formed in early 2020, this Southsea-based sextet has crafted something rare – a psychedelic rock song that uses its genre’s escapist tendencies to illuminate rather than obscure. The result is a track that beckons listeners into its swirling depths while refusing to let them hide there.