Sorority Noise

It Kindly Stopped For Me EP

Written by: LF on 13/05/2016 11:56:26

Consisting of members from emo/indie bands Old Gray, Real Life Parody, and Prawn, Sorority Noise from Hartford, Connecticut have released two albums and a number of EP's and splits so far. This most recent EP release deals with loss and coping with depression, as is also reflected in the title which is a quote from a poem by Emily Dickinson called "Because I could not stop for Death", published in 1890. The musical style of this release is very different to their newest full-length which combined pop punk and indie in a way not far from a band like Modern Baseball. Here, the music is more toned down, gently echoing the thoughtfulness of the subject matter and at the same time bordering more on post-rock and emo territory.

It's a joyful listen despite its melancholy and regrettably it only spans 11 minutes spread among 4 songs. Three of the four songs feature very comforting, neat melodies as well as hushed singing of lyrics that sound sad but are also full of hope. They have very similar vibes but do stand apart most notably in their instrumentation. "Either Way" for instance is dominated by guitar while "A Will" is taken over by piano and synths instead and also gets to expand on its soundscape and linger in your head more so than the other songs here due to its four-minute length. It slides upwards with its chorus of "I’m leaving you my name / Because soon it will fade / I pray for someone to remember me" and ends in the sound of marching drums, all wrapped in a soft atmosphere that deceivingly makes everything sound like it’s just fine.

Next song "Fource" clearly stands out as the most remarkable track on the record, featuring loud noises of someone walking in gravel while singing and speaking with the notable bumps this gives in the breathing, giving the hard words all the more weight. It's thus mostly a spoken word performance supported by several guitars gently strumming on top of each other, creating a fluttering, dreamlike backdrop. It makes a mark not least because it is surrounded by the other songs that are more similar to each other and feel distanced compared to the sudden realness that "Fource" presents. "XC" which ends the record is thus back to the airy singing and melancholic melodies but instead of building upwards like the song before "Fource", it builds downwards in its piano pattern and adds the twinkling sound of a glockenspiel as the EP slowly fades to its end.

Considering its short length, this EP thus makes a remarkable impression, mostly through the way it is thoughtfully put together. While the little melodies in the tracks that surround "Fource" are soothing and nice, they’re not the most interesting songs to listen to over and over and thus it is definitely "Fource" that makes the recording worthwhile. Still, it wouldn’t work as well if it wasn’t for the other songs around it and I’m always happy when I find works of music that create new expressions out of the whole made up of individual songs. In that light, this EP is definitely one to check out, although with its short length it feels undeniably like an intermediary exploration that could be developed even further.

7

Download: Fource, A Will
For The Fans Of: Foxing, Prawn, Modern Baseball, The Hotelier
Listen: facebook.com/sororitynoise

Release date 22.04.2016
Topshelf Records


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