When the big book of Pandemic Rock is written, the most interesting stories may be the ones of bands that got together for the first time during this period. It cannot be easy. Anyone who’s ever successfully tried to get a group of musicians into a room for plain old rehearsal during non-pandemic times hasn’t seen anything when it comes to things like latency issues when practicing on Zoom. So kudos to Static Shapes, who’ve managed to do not just all of this during this time, but also produce the debut single and video for “Wolves In White,” off their forthcoming album, Give Me The Bad News.

If some of these faces, voices and tones sound familiar, you know your Philly indie rock well: Collectively, the Shapes have roots in bands like The Swimmers, Audible and Roomtone, among many others. But here, they’re doing something a little different. “Wolves In White” comes over like a wave of retro goodness with an Alan Parsons Project synth and prime-era Cure guitar sound. It somehow also brings to mind bands like Phoenix or stuff that’s even more contemporary. Above all, it’s vibey in a way that the video depicts really well, like taking a sad vacation… in your own house.