Best of Month 2022: The top ten EPs of the year
Initially, I had outlined a full formal review of this EP that was quite positive. I never wrote it for real though, in fact I’m mainly writing this intro to tell you that this is the one blurb in the EPs section that I’m completely winging.
My relationship to latewaves is an interesting one. At the annual Good Noise Festivals I’ve discovered so many of my all time favorite artists. Pollyanna, Sydney Sprague and all sorts of others that I realized, all had something in common; Jersey. The thing is, all the bands in the New Jersey scene seem to agree that latewaves is special to them. I caught their set at said festival one year but it was around when I was ordering lunch and I didn’t really absorb it. So this year, I paid attention. They were one of the bands that played totally acoustic so I only sort of got an idea of what they truly were, but I knew I had to keep my eyes open. The result? Well, this EP is here.
The End is Near is a tightly wrapped project that tells a story of the clarity a good walk on a nice day can bring as well as the consequences, be it for you or the ones you’re dishing out, that those head clearing moments can bring. It also compels you to go back in the catalog if you aren’t so familiar. So, sure, I took longer to get to this band than I thought, but I’ve always been one to want to see a release date so now I can say I jumped on when the time was right.
Poppy always makes the list.
Poppy is one of those artists that I always pay close attention to because in some way, everything she does is impressive to me even if I don’t love her records all the time. Last year she released my favorite cover song all year, made my top EPs list and although Flux wasn’t a top album of the year I still loved it. I was the outlyer though; the scene having latched hard onto I Disagree really hated it, called it awful. Personally I feel it’s an attempt to create a type of music maybe she hadn’t totally fleshed out yet but still had some of her better songs on it. I guess that’s not the point here though.
I don’t think that Stagger is the best Poppy release by any means, however I have to admire, as always, her willingness to explore progression in new ways. On “FYB,” the lone single and opening track she comes for men in the music industry who think they’re untouchable and mow through women for their own gain with a punk rock backing. On “Pocket” she talks about just that; being used as a tool for someone else’s gain and how she’s reclaiming her personhood from that. We’re even back on the Poppy-gender train on that one.
“I’m a better man than you.”
It makes sense, in this community, that people are doubting these post-2020 releases. Poppy didn’t land on metal, she arrived there through innovation and changing her sound little by little, record by record and left the same way. I could even see people making fun of that change and calling songs like “Shapes” something out of a Target ad. Thing is though that’s exactly what the song is about. They can hold onto that doubt, as for me? She’ll keep giving me songs to love, to talk about and to make me think a little bit. She’ll probably always make the list.
Picture this; it’s the start of the final quarter, you really want to make a top ten EPs of the year, just like every year. Hell, one year you did a top twenty. Only problem? You don’t even like ten EPs. Of course, that obviously changed, but Origami Angel came in unexpectedly with not one but two EPs to throw in the ring. I won’t let them take two slots on this list but they, like every year they release music, deserve the one.
On re: turn we get everything there is to love about the Gami Gang in a Tiny Desk Concert form. Fun riffs, cutesy sentiments and a duo hungry to make songs you’ll remember. On DEPART you get the other end of the spectrum with a majorly exaggerated twist. Bite-sized hardcore tracks with major aggression and commentary to match. Do you, in fact, know your left from right from wrong?
While these are both quick little projects, both under ten minutes, they are worth a look and a year end shout out. They also serve as an exercise of what this band is, just in a bit of an intensified version of themselves.
Had you told me that Softcult would have made my top ten EPs having come off the first half of the Zodiac project last year it’s not that I wouldn’t have believed you; I never doubted they had it in them. It’s more so that I felt there was so much locked potential on Year of the Rat and in just one release it all came to the surface.
It was easy to tell that on “Spit it Out,” a single from last year that made the cut on this EP, this band had found something special. All six tracks off of Snake have single power, probably why they all did get single treatment. The dynamic between twins Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn is something just as special. On each of these songs they have incredible chemistry as well as a clear love and need to protect one another.
“If you lay your hands on my sister again you might lose some fucking teeth.”
The emotions, in general, I might add just ring so clearly and I don’t just mean lyrically. “BWBB” sounds angry and raring to go. “House of Mirrors” is a tragic look into someone’s very soul. When I reviewed this EP earlier in the year the atmosphere really grabbed me. That hasn’t changed; the entire thing sounds like it's being played in a massive hall that cannot even dare try to contain it.
I don’t know what changed, if anything did, but I do know this. Softcult will be a band I keep my eyes on for years to come. Maybe it was me who was behind the times. Either way, I’m glad I gave them a second look, because I’ve had six great songs to listen to all year round.
As soon as I heard this EP I just knew it would make this list. The only reason this isn’t a glowing, actual review, is because this late in the game I’m thinking about the end of the year.
Thing is though, this works much better as a celebration than a piece of crit. They’re a pop punk band, and these days? Feels like there’s good players in that genre everywhere you look but not a lot of great songwriters. Gold Steps simply gives you exactly what you want. A song that would be fun at a party or a show and hooks and melodies you can belt out alongside your friends. Be that hook the modern-classic-worthy “Front Row” about a parasite that latches on to benefit from your successes or the sentimental “Love Song.”
I, too, never wanted a love song till I found her.
There’s just no denying the strength of this band and I have a feeling as time goes on they’ll be one I go to bat for again and again. Hopefully the scene itself does as well.
As I stated above, I went to a house show this year in hopes I would find something new to listen to and I found it in emo chiptune girl Jasmine. I had never heard of exciting!!excellent!! before this evening and while I’ve heard hundreds of emo records in my day, chiptune wasn’t something I knew anything about. My only prior exposure to it was a guy I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh with posting beats on his FaceBook page. When I watched Jasmine play I was totally blown away.
What gets me most of all about this record is how good of a producer Jasmine truly is. Sure, GameBoy branded beats aren’t anything new, but the music they create sounds like the backdrop to the best hidden gem of a handheld game you’ve never played. Lyrically they’re also an incredible storyteller, you can practically see the midnight lit street walking home by yourself, the yearning toward someone miles away from here as you look up at the night sky.
It’s more than likely abundantly clear that it’s important to me that I have bands to champion, especially ones that are local to me. When I switched coasts I held on to the ones I loved back home, but I had to find new locals. Exciting!!excellent!! will always be special in that they were the first local set I saw on the west coast and the first set I saw in Portland in general. They’ve given me music worth writing about in my own city and that to me is something I needed to feel at home here.
Being thousands of miles from home, there’s a lot of things I miss about the east coast. Food mostly, had a dream about good Italian cooking a month or two into my stay. Close second though would have to be the music scene. Between the pandemic and a partner (at the time) who couldn’t dare be bothered to make last minute plans to sit in a club with unsigned bands or let me out of her sight without checking in every few minutes, local shows were hard. For a kid who grew up in those very venues? Made it even harder. One band in particular I caught on more than one occasion, thankfully, was shallow pools. Truth be told, I didn’t much get into their EPs at first, just didn’t stick with me. I didn’t really get it until I saw them live three times.
The third time in particular was at Set it Off’s Welcome to Elsewhere tour (part 1.5) almost three months to the day before I would fly off to start somewhere fresh. I had become a fan based on the live show and got there early on Easter Sunday to finally pick up a record for myself. I purchased the 10’ headspace and after I paid, the merch person asked; “Hey, you want that signed?”
Meeting shallow pools was one of the nicest experiences I’ve had meeting any band in this scene. Our conversation was short but it left a huge impression on me. Be it them telling me where they were from or enthusiastically informing me that the bracelets they sold were hand made one thing stuck with me. That these four cared about their art.
That shines through on the follow-up; this year's daydreaming. On this one shallow pools continue to make brilliantly produced pop bangers that you wouldn’t expect to come out of their instrumental set up. Their sonics are totally unique to them with my only true criticism being that there isn’t a ton of diversity going on here. I think in contrast what makes that work is that this sound is theirs and within the confounds of their EPs they’re still trying to find ways to make that work. All these songs have such a life of their own despite living in such similar spaces. That and, to be blunt, they just know how to write a hook. Between the anthemic “bitter,” the hopeful “wildflower” or any of the other tracks on this release, learning the words was so easy here.
Something that’s comforted me in my new space honestly is the music of the east coast, more specifically the hidden gems from each state. I developed a much deeper relationship with shallow pools being at a huge distance and when the weight of being away from home is heavy, I can close my eyes and be home again even if only for fifteen minutes.
#3: Evelyn Gray - how to be alone
If you've followed my writing this year you've probably seen through my long form pieces that this year I broke off my relationship of fourteen years. The truth is you’ve only seen bits and pieces because the whole thing is still a big dark blotch in my head. Some days it really creeps in on me, making me anxious to even talk to my own loved ones, be it my parents, my partner, my friends. Anyone she got in my head about really, which was everyone.
When I first heard how to be alone it was while trying to put together an installment of my now defunct micro review series. I knew I wanted to include Evelyn. We’re Twitter mutuals so we know each other albeit only a tiny bit. More importantly though she’s an impressive artist in her own right. All I knew, at the time, of her work was her online presence and her 2021 single “Cement Mixer" a track about vocal dysphoria and at the time of its release, being pretty much a baby trans, it hit me hard. Hell, it hits me now as a woman who gets called “sir” at my work everyday on the basis of my voice alone. Anyway, I listened once, kind of forgot about it, then the break up happened. The very first line she sings on the record is;
“I never want to be home cause I know I’ll see you there.”
That hit me. Hard. All of a sudden this EP was something that helped me justify how terrified I was of my partner. Being around her was like walking on eggshells and Evelyn’s words helped me navigate that after it was over. As time went on and I moved I found a new attachment to these songs. One night in September I went to a house show in my new city alone knowing Evelyn would be there but also wanting to discover new, more local, artists. I met her briefly and in all honesty was intimidated even though she seems like one of the kindest people you could ever know. She told me about touring across the country all alone and her plans for the future. I bought a necklace off of her that she made by hand and wear it everyday. People compliment it all the time, it makes them compliment me as well and I think it makes me more confident in myself which, coming from where I did? Is a fairly new prospect to me.
As I left the show I found Evelyn, thanked her for the set and as we hugged goodbye she said “I have a feeling our paths will cross again." I hope she’s right, I’d like to maybe form some kind of friendship, tell her more about how I got here. Until then I’ll keep following her music and see where that path leads me.
#2: Spiritbox - Rotoscope (Pale Chord / Rise)
Last year Spiritbox owned the hearts of heavy music fans coming off the success of a year of hit singles, one of which may be a modern classic, and finally released their debut record; Eternal Blue. Likewise my heart was captivated as well, that very record was my album of the year for its compelling take at djent and metalcore and it reinvigorated my love for the genre. The tide however, seems to be turning on Spiritbox this year. A lot of those supportive voices are starting to say they’re overrated and always have been. A lot of people who said the band was pushing boundaries are starting to waver as they claim that they sound like everyone else. Well, I’m not here to defend that, however I will say that I listened to a lot of these three new songs this year and I can’t think of many vampire dance club type beats in the scene.
No, what I actually would like to do here is tell you a story. Earlier in this year I reviewed this very EP recounting an evening spent with my then long distance friend, now partner under the same roof, listening to this EP and both being pretty impressed by it. I never shared the rest of that evening publicly. At the end of this call I was driven. I knew I had to do something before I moved out of New England. So I walked out of the door at eleven o’clock at night. I started to walk toward a park, this area in RI was practically a ghost town at night and you don’t really even have to consider running into someone to be afraid of them let alone entertain the thought of them doing anything to you. All of a sudden I was deterred by a path, the dark streets to my childhood home. My family has been through a lot amongst ourselves and that house always sort of gets blamed. It’s haunted, it’s cursed our family and I believed that. If I were to truly move on from this place I had to face it one last time.
I walked toward the house and took the longest path possible. As I got to the hill that led to the home itself I paused. I couldn’t see the house, as if no light could reach that place. I went on and eventually got to it. I stared into it expecting it to stare back, expecting a wicked spirit, expecting anything. Nothing came, nothing happened. It’s just a house, I’m just a girl, there’s no curse. As I got back home I realized I had listened to all of Eternal Blue during this entire excursion. I texted the friend I just was on a call with this entire story and cuddled with my pet rabbit until passing out in bed. I’m away from that “evil” house now and in a new one three thousand miles west that I feel safe in. It isn’t magic that makes a house somewhere wicked, it's those within, and the one I’m in now is a home.
Your AsterTracks Ep of the Year for 2022 is...
4 o'clock in the afternoon by Chase Petra via Wax Bodega
Before living on the west coast I was incredibly lonely. I couldn’t connect with most of my friends, my parents would never understand having a trans daughter and my partner was incredibly harmful toward my well being. After moving out of my hometown for a couple of months I decided it was finally time to stop painting myself as a mysterious writer and being as vague as possible when my parents called so I just told them. I texted both parents and both siblings in one fell swoop. I expected the end of the world, for about thirteen years I expected this huge pushback to something that brought me so much joy. I had my girlfriend hide my phone and when she brought it back? Just short messages of “yea, sounds good, love you.” I was happy, but I was also so confused that I felt like I had been gaslit for over a decade. Was I ever really lonely? Or did I live in a simulation by someone else’s design? Making me believe whatever they needed me to so that I’d take care of them no question.
So now what? I’m in a new town, one that I’m growing to love like my own and despite being two years into transition I feel like I’ve only made months of progress. I try to handle everything with poise and grace but to be honest? Most things just make me cry. One night I sat in the diner of my usual friend group after being followed around by some creep in a bar and when everyone but my partner and I were away I said; “I need to get tougher.” I believed it too. She tells me though that I’m fine the way I am and that everything will come with time. After working on writing for a few days I realize of course I’m emotional, I’m in a state of total new beginnings in more ways than one. I needed to ignite my past to give way to loving myself in the future, not the cruel love I had back home.
I think back again to my parents in New England. How I resented them for years and not being able to decide if I had a right to or not. On one hand they both cared, on the other they may have not known how to show it in all the best ways. I do know this, however; leaving my bubble and going out into the world made me understand both of them a bit more. For my mother in particular I left feeling like I wanted to cut her out. Within a couple of months I had an experience that made me remember one of the worst times of her life. How that whole period she was awful to me but now? I get it. I feel like we share a lived experience that I’m not ready to tell her about, let alone all of you. Were my parents perfect? No. Was I?
That’s the thing though, nothing is perfect and it’s hard for me to stomach sometimes. I once had a friend for just under a decade who I looked to for guidance and strength. I never allow myself to write about them because they’re where so much of my pain comes from. They told me for years that I meant so much and that my fears of being overbearing were just that, just fears. Then they took it all back, they said I expected everything to always go to my script, that I froze up when it didn't happen that way. Was I a great friend back then? Probably not? Do I think I tried to control everyone around me? After years of reflection no, I think that was pretty unfair.
I usually put on music to cope with anything. Actually, I usually put on music to do absolutely anything. Then I come onto the blog and I write about it. I recount pain and trauma that’s years worked through and I make it into content. That’s what musicians themselves do too, I think. The thing I always lose sight of though is that while art hurts, while it dredges up the things that do hurt, it’s also supposed to be fun. So it’s important to sing and dance to the songs that get you by too.
Sometimes though, you can’t have fun, you can’t enjoy listening or writing or anything else before you cry first. This record made me feel everything above, it made me cry at four o’clock in the afternoon then again at three in the morning up to six months after its release. I think it will for years. What you just read was me putting this on and just feeling whatever the songs themselves delt me. At the end of it all? I remembered that before I ever move on from anything I have to simply cry.
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