This is a four-piece from Charlotte, NC. That's "the other city in North Carolina". Most music from that state seems to come from Chapel Hill / Raleigh / RTP. Or maybe Asheville. But Charlotte is a big city that just doesn't seem to export a lot of bands. Why is that? Especially if It Looks Sad. (the period is part of the band name -- their name is a complete sentence with correct punctuation!) is indicative of the scene.
This band makes happier post-punk. That is, they take the general sound that New Order, Interpol, etc. built -- jangly guitars with lots of treble and a hint of echo, crisp drumming, subdued echoed voice -- and strip away the minor chords that those bands use. The music on the EP sounds a lot like that kind of stuff, but is not as sad.
I like it. I think they know what they are doing, and they do it well. Your mileage may vary, of course. This will satisfy your post-punk needs, but leave your Inner Goth even mopier than usual.
The EP kicks off with Radical. Vocals are echoed and distant, but guitars chime and drums chug. It almost sounds like an old school indie rock tune, almost lo-fi like everything was in the 1990s.
Fingers kind of chugs along under a chiming guitar, and then in the middle it positively explodes with really dense guitar and the whole thing gets loud and lovely. Very nice.
The rhythm bounces along quite nicely on Raccoon, with the guitar trilling. There is a hint of I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness in this one.
The EP closes with Ocean, which features the slowest tempo here, one that kind of lopes along unhurriedly. There is a nice moment at the middle where the bass picks a brief solo before the whole band goes at it with everything really pounding, including the vocalist screaming in a throat scarring kind of way. It's a good end to the EP.
Overall, this is pretty cool. I bet these guys are fun in concert.
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