Everyone talks about how the internet has made the world smaller, but less attention has been given to how it has expanded microcosms into galaxies. Microgenres have become scenes unto themselves, with legions of bands offering sonic homage to a handful of albums.

Where the term “shoegaze” originally referred to a dozen or so bands around London, the sonic explorations they pioneered have created hosts of acolytes making their own pilgrimages through reverb-and-fuzz-drenched guitars. This scene has further bifurcated itself, with further microscenes forming within the context of an already niche genre (see: dreamgaze, heavy shoegaze, blackgaze, doomgaze, dreamo and more).

One of the more fascinating microscenes I’ve discovered is the Russian shoegaze scene, which is comprised of bands like Life on Venus, Pinkshinyultrablast, and Blankenberge, whose album Everything is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

By and large, Russian shoegaze offers an interesting counterpoint to the typical cultural ideas about their home country. Where Russians are often seen as drab, severe, and/or drenched in Vodka, the shoegaze produced therein is exceedingly dreamy, romantic, and hopeful. But those qualities often shine amid dark atmospheres and heavy guitars—which, when you look through Russian classics like Tschaikovsky and Dostoyevsky, are much closer to the heart of Russian art than the picture painted by all those dashcam videos.

And Everywhere is a fine addition to the Russian canon, trafficking in bittersweetness as a native language. Distant vocals are run through so much reverb that the resonance of the effect is as much of the timbre as Yana Guselnikova’s own voice. Guitars and synths are so gooey that you can hardly tell where one ends and the other begins.

But what sets Blankenberge apart from the legions of bands using similar sounds is just how dynamic it is. There is a cinematic quality to these songs borrowed from post rock bands like Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You, Mogwai, et al. “Time To Live” opens the record with a bang, the gentle guitar and vocal intro bursting into fuzzed out catharsis almost immediately, coming down for a second only to build to a swelling crescendo. Strip away the vocals and you could imagine the title track scoring a movie trailer. “Different” winks at post punk, glassy guitars riding a shuffling hi-hat and bass groove that could have been lifted from Unknown Pleasures.

What’s most stunning about this record though is how effortless it sounds. It comfortably employs the conventions of shoegaze without ever feeling constrained by them. It reaches past the often narrow constraints of the genre without showing off or sounding strained. It’s dreamy without sounding sleepy. Instead, the “dream” in its dream pop takes the definition of hoping for a better world, of yearning to see peace rather than nighttime delusions or distracted mind wandering. And with the current state of their home nation’s politics*, there’s not much more Russian than that.

*they could only accept cryptocurrency for this pressing due to sanctions on their government, which they’ve condemned