Minneapolis has a lot going for it.
Bands like Porch Light, Durry and Gully Boys (and bonus! Koo Koo Kangaroo) have all been seeing relatively strong success and have kept the city on the map as a burgeoning music scene. After all, it's the home of Prince, The Replacements and many more classic American bands.
And now, we can add she's green to the list.
The terms shoegaze and dream pop get thrown around pretty regularly and have lost some of their meaning. But it's impossible to listen to the new EP by she's green and not think of those genres. On this EP, she’s green carves out a sound that feels both tightly wound and strangely weightless. It's a push‑and‑pull tension that keeps every track humming and moving seamlessly forward, which is tough to do in shoegaze (and often comes off as sounding the same).
Wtih swallowtail, she's green crafts beautiful songs with precision. The tunes speak for themselves, and are epic tracks with levels of reverb that would make My Bloody Valentine approve.
A prime example of the shoegaze goodness on the album is "paper thin." Imagine if Cocteau Twins and Slowdive had a baby; this would be that track. The guitar work almost falls into drone territory, but stays just identifiable enough to keep the track going smoothly right into the arpeggio middle section, which leads us to the realm of epic dreamy goodness.
"close your eyes" takes elements of My Bloody Valentine, Explosions in the Sky and even Japanese Breakfast. If you're a fan of any of those groups this song will be right up your alley. This was my personal favorite track on swallowtail.
The vocals supplied by Zofia Smith add the perfect mixture of delicate beauty to she's green's sound. She elevates the songs from 'good dream pop' to 'good dream pop worth caring about.' "close your eyes" is the perfect showcase for her range, and might possibly be the best example on this EP of the vocals and instrumentation working in unison.
"empty house" shows she's green at the band's most venerable. For the first half this is an acoustic song, then a bit after the halfway point light drums and a lush electric guitar come in, which transported me to the opening scene of Gladiator. My hand was running against the wheat fields at sunset. It's great soundtrack material.
swallowtail builds on all the singles that came before it. The 2023 track "mandy" gained she's green attention, 2025's "graze" proved that the band wasn't a flash in the pan. Now, swallowtail is set to prove that she's green is one of the best groups operating in their genre.
What sets she's green apart from all the other bands making dream pop/shoegaze is the band's ability to make these familiar elements feel newly charged. The way their arrangements bloom in layers gives you uncertainty — you're never quite sure where you're headed, but the journey is scenic (and sonically is the equivalent of going through the coolest car wash you can imagine).
The hooks lingered in my mind long after they were complete, and the production choices gave each track a subtle cinematic glow, which I loved. It’s music that feels carefully assembled but not pretentious. It invites you in, taking you on an adventure you won't regret taking.
Keep an eye on she's green. This is a group that's going places.
