Bifocals’ Upcoming Album Covers Life, Loss and Finding Hope on the Other Side of Pain

There are many people who see Denton only as a college town and move on once they’ve finished their four years. But for some, the city's quirky charm draws them in and never lets them go. The guys in Denton band Bifocals have been comfortably in the city's clutches for around a decade now, bathing in Little D's one-of-a-kind culture and contributing to the musical scene that attracted them there in the first place.

“Denton is, in my opinion, one of the most unique cities in Texas,” keyboardist Ray Herbert says. “That was the main place to watch shows between 2011 and 2015. All of the house venues were popping off, so much so that there were actually, like, two or three well-known house venues in the city of Denton. Just college kids putting shows together.”

As long-term Dentonites, the band members have seen their fair share of changes around the town, but the magic has remained untouched. Their show at Andy’s Bar on Aug. 3 alongside Mr. Breakfast, Dome Dwellers and Future Nest was something of a victory lap and a reunion for Bifocals.

“We’ve all been in Denton for, on and off, maybe 10 years probably,” bassist/vocalist Zachariah Walker says. “We’ve seen many iterations of [Rubber] Gloves and Andy’s. I used to run sound here for a while.”

“There used to be a big hole in the stage and water constantly leaking from upstairs,” Herbert remembers, and guitarist Robbie Husband adds: “[Andy’s] was actually the first place we ever played a live show."

This past gig was Herbert’s first time playing live with the band, but their performance was so tight that no one would’ve ever known. Herbert first met Walker through work, as both they and drummer Matt Farmer are all audio engineers and sound techs outside of Bifocals.

“I played with them three times before this show,” Herbert says. “It’s been a month, maybe.”

Farmer joined the band before Herbert and first met Walker at one of the house venues that make Denton so special.

“I think I met you, Zach, at one of your houses when you were throwing a house show and Dome Dwellers was playing, and I didn’t know it was your house,” he says. “I was shit-faced. I was like, ‘Oh, you live here? Cool!’”

With their freshly cemented lineup, the guys have been getting to work on their next big project, which is mainly inspired by recent events in Walker’s life. Their newest single, “Amelia Saves a Unicorn,” is about the impact that Walker's daughter’s birth has had on him.

“I had a crazy two-year period where I went through a lot of loss,” he says. “I lost Gerald [Holt], from Fun Button, and my dad six months later. A year later, we realized that we were having a little girl. A lot of our new songs are just about me processing trauma and grief and trying to find joy coming out of pain.”

“Amelia Saves a Unicorn” opens with a tasty lick from Husband that becomes the track’s bread and butter, then the rest of the band falls into place after a syncopated fill from Farmer. In multiple spots, the song teeters on the edge of a headbanger and something on which to lay back and vibe in the most satisfying way, with halftime breakdowns that make gravity seem a bit less relevant for the time being. Walker's baritone vocals are all-encompassing and pierce through like a haunting gaze, reflecting the intense emotion behind the lyrics.

“I’m the unicorn in that song,” Walker says.

The spaciness of the track gets a boost from the addition of synth and keyboard by past member Daniel Serrano, which brings an atmospheric layer to the mix that couldn't be achieved otherwise. Oddly enough, keys were originally a last-second addition to their debut self-titled EP.

“We had no idea what that EP on Spotify would've sounded like with keys until we finished recording it and sent it over to [keys player Garrett Cook] and they recorded it remotely in Austin over the pandemic,” Husband says. “We heard them for the first time and were like, ‘OK, so we gotta have a keyboard player from now on.’”

Husband and Walker started Bifocals in 2019 alongside Cook and Matt O’Donnell from Mr. Breakfast after their previous group, Fun Button, fizzled out. This iteration of the band lasted until 2020, when COVID sidelined their efforts and the members parted ways. But given their history, it was only a matter of time until Husband and Walker had the group up and running again.

“We've known each other since we were 11,” Husband says. “I'm 35. It's been a long time and we've always been best friends. After high school we started playing in bands; this is our third one together. We just kind of developed a chemistry where we can sit down together, write stuff and be happy with it.”

Bifocals' music is labeled as post-rock, the burnt-out older cousin of shoegaze. The easiest example to point to for the genre’s sound would be something like Radiohead’s “The National Anthem” and “In Limbo” off Kid A or “Elephants” from Them Crooked Vultures. Basically, the classification involves using the core elements of rock while abandoning its typical song structure and limitations.

“Post-rock has become almost an ambiguous term because there’s a lot of music that falls under it,” Herbert says. “I also play in a band that’s purely instrumental and borders on ambiance often, and we’re considered post-rock. It’s similar enough that I feel like we could play on the same bill as Bifocals, but we’re also different enough that you could be like, ‘Oh, these are both post-rock?’”

The band’s influences are about as far-reaching as their genre, but Walker gives praise to one group over all others.

“The Cure are like The Beatles of good music in my opinion,” Walker says. “We wanted originally to write songs inspired by The Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen."

Although their new album is well on the way to being finished, they’re not looking to release it until early next year. As audio engineers, everyone in the band has an ear for perfection and wants the record to come out just right.

“We’re probably going to push it until March or so, for fine-tuning and stuff,” Walker says. “We’re just finding the scheduling to write and record and do shows and book shows. It takes a little bit when you’re in your later 20s and 30s.”