Evacuee 's new four-song EP 2to32 is a mixture of smooth textures and abrasiveness. It’s a fun, angry, poppy, sarcastic, and intelligent CD.
The disc opens on a buzzing droning guitar over a galloping pulse that sets up the singer's sweet raspy singing. His snarled, croaked voice can feel off-putting at first, but it became sweetly charming the more I listened. Evacuee's raw shouted vocals and walls of guitar remind me of bands like the Pixies or the Replacements. Through the walls of distortion and shimmering cymbals, you can hear a sing-song quality to the melodies that holds tension against the rougher dynamics. The album is driven with guitars, bass and drums, with Miles, Stephen and Travis sharing singing responsibilities.
2to32’s first track, “6pm8pm,” starts out with an amped-up, blown out Joy Division riff that pulsates towards the song’s chorus. The tight and aggressive dynamics of the hugely amplified guitars remind me of Weezer, and the chorus swells like the Velvet Teen and gives a shadowy glimmer of hope – "somehow we're gonna make it right/while we still have time" – while maintaining the dark sound of the verse.
The second song, "Webster Groves," is more of a groover done in a style similar to Ambulance Ltd, but with a looser garage rock feel. On this track the band occasionally loses my attention when the song seems to drift for a minute without a strong feeling of direction. But on "Croakies: helpful 4 keep attached," they are at their most focused, shouting out for a return to the ocean while drowning us in a sea of distortion. As the song's final chords ring out over and over, the dynamic shifts and an acoustic guitar takes us home.
On 2to32, Evacuee evoke memories of the harder side of 1990s indie rock, where band dynamics outshine personalities, and the smartness and wryly vitriolic lyricism is left for the audience to take or leave.
Evacuee