Phosphene, in real-life-science terms, is the phenomenon of seeing light without light ever actually hitting your eyes. Simply put, they’re those black and white spots you see after you’ve rubbed your eyelids and before you open your eyes. However, it’s much more complex than that—scientists have discovered it can happen through electrical brain stimulation, psychedelic drugs, and prolonged periods of time spent in darkness (quaintly referred to as Prisoner’s Cinema). The visions can be as varied as a vague smattering of spots to human forms.
Befittingly, Phosphene the band is simple and familiar but with a nod to the more complex. “Metric,” a track off of their self-titled debut, is the jangly rock one would expect from a California quartet. The lyrics are a love poem, spread over three minutes with languid, drawling vocals. But it’s a downright pleasure to listen to and gets straight to the heart of what makes romance so captivating; the feeling of being unique in the world to another person, slightly changed in the best of ways by someone you adore. In other words, Phosphene is taking the golden retriever of indie rock—West Coast beach rock—and bringing it a little closer to its human form.