Hurry 'Casual Feelings' Review

Earlier this year Hurry released Guided Meditations, a full length filled with 90's inspired, nostalgia filled tracks and messages, and now the band is back with a new 3 song ep called Casual Feelings, and it's fantastic.

Hurry is becoming one of my go to bands for all purposes. The songs are relatable and always bring me to other points in my life to reminisce or make me think of the future in a way that doesn't make me sick. The record moves along at the best pace. I don't feel this urgency to get through the songs even though sometimes the lyrical content hits too close to home. It's a slow burn and it moves at a great speed. It needs multiple spins though.

The title track "Casual Feelings" is the standout track for me. Sometimes I buy these really old records from thrift stores. The kind of records that are called "Honeymoon in Paris" or "Vacation in Rome" and I have this daydream of waking up with someone I care about, and it's warm and sunny, and the windows are open, and I put on those records because they are silly but nice, and then we make breakfast or something... yeah I like that stuff, ok? But anyways, this song makes me think of that.

Casual Feelings is out 10/21 on Lame-O Records.
Stream the ep on Brooklyn Vegan
Read my review of Guided Meditations.

Hurry will be laying:
10/14 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
10/15 Cleveland, OH @ Mahal's w/ Slingshot Dakota, Kississippi
10/28 Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA w/ Eric Slick, Cherry, Cave People
11/18 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge w/ Valley Lodge
12/17 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer w/ The Starting Line, Jank

Kindling "Everywhere Else" Review

Kindling is no stranger to this blog. The Easthampton, MA shoegaze behemoth is releasing their debut full length Everywhere Else via No Idea Records this Friday, August 12. What's so impressive about Kindling is their ability to take a genre of music where songs and bands can easily start to sound redundant and overused, and make it fresh. They have soaring guitars reminiscent of more post-rock bands, they have heavier riffy parts and constant driving bass like grunge bands, and they have times where the drums seem explosive, fast, and punk. Not to mention the haunting yet soothing vocals of Gretchen Williams and the 90's alt rock vocals of Stephen Pierce. Kindling is like a smorgasbord of grunge, shoegaze, and dream-pop, and it's so good!

Songs like the opener "Coma" and "Blinding Wave" are perfect examples of the soaring guitar shoegaze vibe mixed with the 90's alt rock vibe the band is absolutely nailing. The songs are dense and there's a lot there, but they aren't claustrophobic like some shoegaze acts. Then there are tracks like "Black Eye" and "Other Times" that are more heavy on the grunge side of things. Riffs, and hard hitting drums and bass, giving the record a nice contrast but one that isn't overly stark or out of place.

"Became" for me is the piece de resistance. I think it's the culmination of everything the record presents. Layers of heavy guitar, drum fills and steady moving bass, perfect vocals sitting just beyond full clarity, and high singing guitars. This is it.

Everywhere Else has the ability to play through and feel concise like a solid unit of work, but its individual tracks are dynamic and original, and can stand out on their own as well as within the whole. The record plays through so well, but the individual tracks have their own weight to them. They carry enough within them to stand on their own. I think this is what makes a perfect record. One that can play through as one solid piece of work, but can be looked back upon and specific pieces can be picked out. I think what I'm trying to say is: This record is really fucking good.

Kindling are playing two record release shows this week.
Stream the whole record on Spin.
Pre-order Everywhere Else from No Idea or go to a show and get it!

Hurry "Guided Meditation" Review

My review of Hurry's Guided Meditation is now up over at 36vultures. Hit the link and check it out!

http://36vultures.net/review/review-hurry-have-released-the-most-nostalgic-90s-pop-rock-record-with-guided-meditation