August 15 | Written By Jessica Pispisa

1994 was 30 years ago this year. To some, that may mean nothing, but to many, it’s a thought that will bring many to a borderline depressive episode. The band’s name alone can conjure up memories for millennials and a selection of those gens in the margins of what a banner year it was in music. Established acts like Green Day, ‘Dookie’, The Cranberries, ‘No Need to Argue’ and TLC ‘CrazySexyCool’ dropped albums that have gone on to become modern day classics, and others marked their arrival with exiting debuts, with the likes of Oasis, ‘Definitely Maybe’, Notorious B.I.G. ‘Ready to Die’, Portishead ‘Dummy’. It was a good time for music lovers, and no doubt they knew it. 

Shimmer ‘94 is a brand-new band from Glasgow, and are comprised of former members from Shredd, Deathcats, Faiides, Bluebirds and Las Acuarelas. Are they a “supergroup” ? Too soon to tell, but they are following up their debut single, You Must Be Getting Used to This, with So Young, a “guitar-driven, jangly power pop” summer tune about lessons they were thought when they were young and naive by their elders, but still learning things the slightly harder way.  

There’s no mistaking that this song pays a debt to another beloved tune about escaped youth (The Courtneers’ ‘Not Nineteen Forever’), with the lyrics feeling as they are being addressed to someone who has given them lessons in how not to break the mould (You taught me to survive/You taught me to be quiet), only to do it anyway, because, well, how else is life supposed to be lived? Summer is that time of year where the air is filled the intoxicating feeling that anything can happen, and good times are not only a possibility, but a guarantee. And how bittersweet the come-down is when you it didn’t live up to the hopes of it. Heartbreaks, missed opportunities, and the fragility of misspent youth are what sticks to your ribs the most (You break before you bend/and you don’t know why). Indie music is filled with these types of songs because they are the ones almost everyone can relate to, and it gets a crowd going like nothing else at a gig. Songs like these binds a generation together, and as beloved as Not Nineteen Forever is, the Gen Z deserve their own sing-along, and one to be in their life soundtrack. 

So Young is a about the summer, and for the rest of the year. Not much is known about Shimmer ‘94 yet, but they’ve got themselves a solid tune in their hands with this one.  

Check out ‘So Young’ on Spotify here.

Checkout Shimmer ‘94 here.

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