“If a Brave Little Toaster character dropped out of art school and read comic books his whole life,” Nuclear Daisies would have a twin band, according to songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rob Glynn. On their second album, First Taste of Heaven, out August 1, the industrial dance-pop threepiece is more cognizant of their sound, headbanging comfortably in a synth-dense landscape Glynn describes as a “sentient refrigerator with a laser gun and a jet pack and a delay pedal set to a billion.”
With true cartoonish whimsy, the darkwave-shoegaze band stitches songs together thanks to mouth-made sound effects, leaning on each other’s expertise and trust to “go beweewee and then I’ll go wahhahha,” Glynn demonstrates, air conducted by his bandmates as they describe the songwriting techniques exercised on their upcoming album.
“Then we chop it all up, rearrange it, twist it, and turn it,” producer Robert “Robby” Williams explains, wrapping up their production process neatly with a brush of the hands. The layers of distortion, percussive delays, and wiry guitar riffs that elasticate Nuclear Daisies’ deep-fried drum and bass loops hint at a less whimsical, more dark-magic-drawn precise production style that transforms hummed harmonies into progressive instrumentation.
Nuclear Daisies formed gradually during the pandemic, turning physical isolation into grounds for musical experimentation. Looking for a kind but critical ear for the drum-based shoegaze songs he was putting together, Glynn, former member of dream-pop project Temple of Angels, reached out to Williams. Soon enough, Williams and Glynn were trading Logic tracks and meeting up to puzzle through the songs that would become their self-titled album in 2022. The two reached out to Ringo Deathstarr bassist and songwriter Alex Gehring for help completing the project.
“Everything I did, they were like ‘That was beautiful, that was amazing,’” Gehring says, imitating her bandmates. “I was like, ‘Oh my god I love recording with you guys.’ My ego is totally boosted.”
Gehring took up writing Nuclear Daisies’ lyrics and vocal melodies, twisting the structure of Glynn and Williams’ instrumentals and adding an ethereal flair to the bass-heavy mix. The three became the core writing and recording members of Nuclear Daisies, joined onstage by Gehring’s Ringo Deathstarr bandmate, drummer Daniel Coborn. Guitarists Caleb McKelvey and Alexander “Al” Dubois, and Nevil bassist Katelynn Garza, further fill out the dungeon-dance band’s live performance.
While playing their first record, and much of the second one, live, Glynn homed in on audience reactions, conducting a one-man research project with the aim of total audience domination.
“I should have been, like, focusing on singing and playing the show,” Glynn says. “But really I was listening to the band and watching how the crowd was reacting so I knew what parts of the set were getting the energy. I would go home, freak out, [and] be like, how do I capture this part?”
Gehring’s ethereal voice swirls through the shadow-filled, psychedelic melody of “Infinite Joy,” the latest single from First Taste of Heaven. The irresistible hook and cathartic rhythmic breaks tease Glynn’s crowdsourced discoveries, promising an album pruned for live astonishment.
Hot Summer Nights: Nuclear Daisies, Portrayal of Guilt, Daze
Friday 25, Mohawk (Outside)
redriverculturaldistrict.org/hot-summer-nights
This article appears in July 25 • 2025.
