iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Open on Bluesky →

Slugg Records @sluggrecords.com · 05/08/2026

So proud of @bipolarexplorer.info Support independent media and artists, it's worth it! Get Last Lights on double CD/digital bipolarexplorer.bandcamp.com/album/last-l... ampwall.com/a/bipolarexp... Get The Wire September 2026 (& subscribe) www.thewire.co.uk/issues/511 @thewiremagazine.bsky.social

Bipolar Explorer

Last Lights

Slugg 2xCD/DL

Bipolar Explorer's Michael Serafin-Wells compares the New York shoegaze group's latest album to the wall-sized paintings of Gustave Courbet, and to his favoured Clash, Hüsker Dü and Minutemen double LPs. At 140 minutes, Last Lights is considerably longer than any of them (whether it's larger than a 20 foot canvas is a question of perspective, I suppose) and while scarcely sounding punky, ample discord is present in a set that builds itself around Serafin-Wells's multiplicity of guitar textures. "Across The Northern Winter Sky" sounds like Windy & Carl at their gothiest, which is very welcome. Valuable context also lies in the vocal contributions of Summer Serafin, who co-founded Bipolar Explorer and died in 2011; Serafin-Wells upholds her memory via these archived recordings.