Discover Top Posts Tagged with #cruiser ep

Introducing: Cruiser

Fair warning to bands submitting music to our inbox: it's a mess. In our defense, the fact that it's a mess isn't entirely out fault; finals season came along and it got increasingly difficult to catch up, then, as we started listening, more emails came through. And, to be entirely honest, the idea of going through it all is incredibly daunting, especially because most of it isn't very good to begin with (sorry).

Fortunately, every once in a while we're able to stumble across a band like Cruiser. I say band, but in reality Cruiser is actually just the solo project of twenty-six year-old Philadelphia native Andy States. After roughly eight years making music, his demos ended up in the hands of Jeremy Park, whose name will be completely unfamiliar to all but the most liner note-obsessive music fans out there. If you are one such fan, you might have noticed that Jeremy Park is actually the same man that produced Youth Lagoon's The Year of Hibernation and album we enjoyed very, very much.

The result of these demos, which were actually produced without Park and States actually meeting in person (isn't technology wonderful?), is the six song Cruiser EP, which comes just in time for summer. The artist himself describes the music saying that it's "meant to make you feel good", and it's hard to disagree.

As typical as the music may sound, I find myself slightly struggling to pinpoint exact references, despite States citing the likes of Girls, The Everly Brothers (what?!) or Cloud Nothings as influences.. The style is most definitely beach pop, but the guitars hit harder and the drums pump louder than bands like The Drums, though the jangly "Home Turf" seems to indicate they might have been a point of reference. Things are also fairly reverb-heavy, possible the closest and only like to Youth Lagoon, particularly on the slower "Souvenir". The overall sound is a bit like what DIIV have been doing, but that can hardly be considered an influence since it's incredibly recent.

Like all good summery beach pop, the songs on the EP are easy on the ears, but what makes them standout is that there's actually a fair amount of things going on underneath the catchy surface. The closer, "Moving To Neptune", for example, has more melodic guitar lines than I can count on one hand, and subtle high pitch vocal that mimics the lead, and adds some nice depth.

Opening the EP is "The Fritz", is a straight up summer anthem in all it's glory, with lines like "let me forget all the shit that's bringing me down". Isn't that what summer is all about? My summer break thus far seems to agree, as my country crumbles and I spend my afternoons playing Football Manager and at the pool.

Whether you've been on vacation for a while or are just about to start, I highly recommend you pick up the Cruiser EP for whatever price you like over on Cruiser's Bandcamp. To help you decide, below you can stream and download "Moving To Neptune" and "The Fritz". Might as well put your beach trunks on already.

Connect with Cruiser: Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp

Original Article