Slushco are a local pop band who make happy, energetic music with keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums. Their music is light-hearted and catchy, with silly songs that make you want to sing along and tap your feet. Clouds is their second EP. It goes through 7 songs in just under 30 minutes, and proves they are a worthy addition to the Atlanta music scene.
My Bravado Under Neon starts things off with a great beat and synthesizer intro. Vocalist Brian Slusher comes in after a minute, and here he sounds almost like Thom Yorke circa The Bends. The song builds to a good fury in the middle. Good stuff.
Disposition Condition starts with a minute of simmering keys, before
exploding into a rhythmic section worthy of The
Deathray Davies. Slusher sings through some sort of distortion, and
keyboardist Michael Ogletree is playing a happy synth riff mixed high in
the mix. But it is the rhythms here that really soar like The
Deathrays: bassist Tim Madison and drummer Aaron Shively do a remarkable
impression of that band. This song is catchy, loud, and distorted -- what's
not to like?
Slushco mix it up on the next track with the ballad Weatherproof. The guitar meanders along with slow arpeggios and overdriven solos, and the keyboards tinkle happily.
It's back to the silly keys and happy beats for Clouds. The choruses on this one feature thundering drums, overdriven guitar, and lots of keyboards. It has a loping beat, and this really reminds me of the first Weezer album. That's always a good comparison.
Swing Without a Sound continues the Weezerish pop, only with happy keyboards. The use of synthesizers is, if anything, and improvement on this type of light, catchy pop.
Waiting for Response takes the keys even further, with a nice intro of synths and drums that sounds a lot like 80s synthpop. Slusher sings lightly over this, before the whole band kicks in with a staccato rhythm. You can't help but want to tap your feet along to this one.
Finally, Slushco give us another ballad, the slow-burner Doors. Slusher starts this one off by just strumming away and lightly singing, while the keyboards sing counter-harmony. It builds to a nice loud frenzy, and then fades away with a long outro of keyboardy silliness. It's a nice way to end this EP.
Overall, this is good stuff. Slushco have a lot of catchy fun tunes, and this EP is even more impressive when you think that the Mr. Slusher recorded and mixed it himself. That's no mean feat (i say this not from experience, but because i have heard so many local releases that do a terrible job of it!) Slushco do a fine job, and i look forward to more from them.
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