Society of the Silver Cross is a Seattle-based band weaving a mesmerizing tapestry of sound with their new album, Festival of Invocations. Fronted by songwriters Joe Reineke (The Meices, Alien Crime Syndicate) and Karyn Gold-Reineke, the band explores profound themes of life and death, beauty and darkness, guiding listeners through otherworldly realms that blur the boundaries between worlds. Their music immerses audiences in a trance-like journey of introspection and exploration.

At the heart of their sound lies a seamless fusion of lush organic instrumentation and immersive soundscapes. Drawing inspiration from the rich musical traditions of India, Society of the Silver Cross incorporates 12-string acoustic guitar, harmonium, Hammond B3 organ, Shahi
Baaja (Indian autoharp), rare synthesizers, and commanding rhythms. The result is a spellbinding blend of hypnotic melodies, dark undertones, and twisted Americana. Critics have described their sound as haunting, gothic Graceland, funeral home rock, and even yogic metal.

 

Festival of Invocations, five years in the making, has earned praise from Rolling Stone as "a sonic odyssey that leads listeners through otherworldly realms" and from SPIN as "an eerie, hypnotic spell pulling listeners into a dark, cinematic world." This album follows their critically acclaimed debut, 1 Verse (2019), lauded as "one of the year's most unique and compelling debuts."

The band’s live performances, enriched by drummer Mark Etherington and Mellotron/Shahi Baaja player and back-up vocalist Leeni Ramadan, are both dynamic and captivating.

Society of the Silver Cross reimagines contemporary Gothic music, blending mystery, romance, and spiritualism into their evocative sound. Their music transcends earthly bounds, leaving a profound and lasting impact on listeners and the modern music scene alike.

Taking their name from a mid-century avant-garde photography movement, Seattle’s Fotoform create melodic, gauzy, driving post-punk and darkwave. Their second album, Horizons, pivots from the wall of guitars on their self-titled debut to a more nuanced and cinematic canvas, adding synths to the layers of guitars, fusing the textures of shoegaze and dream pop with the drive of post-punk. Now a trio of Kim House and Geoff Cox (C’est la Mort) and Michael Schorr (Death Cab for Cutie, Long Winters), Fotoform have further refined their plaintive, bass-driven kinetic swoon, which The Big Takeover describes as “a riot of ‘80s post-punk.”

Press
“This Seattle band’s second album is a well-crafted blend of post-punk and dream-pop with atmospheric guitars and synths, driving rhythms, ethereal vocals, hypnotic song hooks and lyrics of grief, love and loss.” – KEXP

“The excellent new LP from Seattle’s Fotoform pairs the moodiness of goth with drifting dream pop melodies, resulting in bewitching songs.” – Bandcamp New & Notable

“One of the finest pleasures for fans is marveling over how a favorite band can regularly top previous releases. Drummer Michael Schorr and bassist/keyboardist/singer Kim House dig hard into hard-swinging, booming post-punk rhythms—simultaneously sonorous and mean—which vaults Geoffrey Cox’s guitar effects battering into cloudbursts of maximum dreampop. House’s pipes have never sounded more convincing, like Lush’s Miki Berenyi soldered into Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell. One of our greatest American Anglo-esque bands. Wow.”
– Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover