As much as I love old-school shoegaze and new wave, I might enjoy it just as much when the punks lay down their aggressive downstrokes and power chords to reappropriate those sounds and moods in earnest.

Granted, neither Hopesfall nor Celebrity have exactly shied away from integrating these retro influences in their brands of post-hardcore. Even at their heaviest, they’ve retained a sense of tunefulness and melancholy that recall bands like New Order, My Bloody Valentine, and of course The Cure.

But when members of those projects join forces to delve more sincerely honor those influences, the result is magical.

I was first introduced to In Parallel by my friend Jamie, who praised their 2018 EP Broken Codes, which he praised for its blend of shoegaze, new wave, and post-hardcore—which sounds like everything I want all of the time. But it was their 2020 release Fashioner that really grabbed me when I listened for myself.

There’s nothing particularly inventive here—but that’s not why anyone listens to genre albums (particularly these genres). The songs exist in dark atmospheres created by effect-laden guitars, dark synths, driving bass lines, and mechanically precise drum patterns. Vocalist Lance Black delivers his lines in a moody croon that totally abandons the instincts of his post-hardcore roots. There’s still passion here, but it manifests in delicacy rather than catharsis. Instrumentally, the band shows similar restraint, creating its mood through grooves rather than loudness—until the wall-of-noise shoegaze explosion that bursts halfway through the closing track “Threat of Heaven.”

Beyond nailing the sonic palette, the songs are just great. Though only five tracks long, it carries itself like a full length. The run time clocks in at thirty-three minutes, which is more than some Weezer albums achieve in ten songs. The album is at its best when letting the tracks breathe beyond the typical verse/chorus structure. The most obvious example is the eight-plus minute “Leave It with the Ghost,” which is almost completely instrumental in the back half, carried instead by evolving guitar lines that walk the line between a riff and a solo.

When combined, the sum of these elements makes for a listen that is rewarding no matter how closely you listen to it. On some listens, I’ve found myself letting it pass over me without much impact, instead treating it as a satisfying bit of ambiance. But more careful inspections have found gold in every track. From “Six over Eight“‘s contrast of dour verses and major key choruses to the dark retro-futurist popcraft of “Fashioner (No Exit)” to the fiery finale of “Threat of Heaven,” there isn’t a moment here that isn’t perfectly constructed and sonically gorgeous.

This may not be a massively important album—there aren’t many superlatives you can assign to it that won’t fall apart with a little prodding. But you don’t always need an album that is the most _____ out there. Sometimes, you just need an album that is good, that will stand up to repeated listens and keep giving. And this album certainly delivers there.