Gliss

Gliss crafts shadowy, atmospheric pop that evokes My Bloody Valentine reimagined through garage-rock grit. The band discovered the virtues of restraint after its original configuration dissolved. Los Angeles-born Martin Klingman and David Reiss, who alternated between bass and guitar, watched the remaining pair depart in 2003 following years of incremental progress. Rather than rebuild to a four-piece, the duo encountered Danish expatriate Victoria Cecilia, whose command of drums, guitar, bass, and keys prompted a recalibration of the group’s approach. By 2004 the trio format was in place, and audiences responded enthusiastically both locally and overseas. Gliss shared stages with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, We Are Scientists, Silversun Pickups, and Youth Group; a British sojourn that summer yielded a single for the Mountain Low-Fi imprint. A cover of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Rhinoceros” appeared on a MySpace-curated tribute collection, prompting Billy Corgan to invite the band on the European leg of his 2005 solo-album tour; Gliss later opened select dates of the Smashing Pumpkins’ 2007 reunion trek. Tough Cookie, the U.K. digital-only specialist, issued a run of singles in 2005 and followed with the full-length Love the Virgins the next year along with the EP Kissing the Boulevard. Stateside, the group aligned with Cordless Recordings, the Warner Bros. digital subsidiary.