A dynamic, stormy-guitar postpunk debut by the New York quintet in an LP filled with landmark references of that famous city, but also given a texture and edge under the production guidance of by London’s brilliant Dan Carey. There are some echoes of The Strokes, and particularly The Walkmen, in the voice of singer Sam Slocum as the thumping energy of opener Start Again rises up, setting the scene with an encounter with a well-dressed alcoholic. Passing Judgement has a fabulous dark power. The title track builds with a slow menace with the line “It’s the end of the world and I feel fine” before recalling the tragic image of East Village’s Middle Church burning in a 2020 fire and that empty, bland Ronald Reagan-era slogan “Morning In America”. Sweet is a dynamic shoegaze, while Takedown is a quieter, more contemplative and tender number originally designed as a personal gift. But perhaps the best track is left to the end, I Have the Answer is a 6-minute epic that describes an epiphany at the American Museum of Natural History’s whale exhibit. A band for a new generation of the angest-ridden and disaffected with a huge layered, jagged sound. Out on Dirty Hit Records.
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