The Valley Advocate

Though this five-song EP [Things Under Water] of loosely structured noise-pop occasionally devolves into a seizure of guitar downstrokes and distorted, overdriven cymbals, it’s actually better than you might think. Whatever kind of guitar/amp combo they use on the recording, its pure overdriven crunch tone and surfy, reverb-drenched clean tones are, like the beloved breakfast cereal Lucky Charms, magically delicious. Perhaps kin to punk/post-punk phenomena like Firehose or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (with both male and female vocals), the band also delves into extended instrumentals. The songs on the CD are indeed all about underwater things, the coolest of which is “Dana,” a town that was submerged (and is here personified as a girl who drowned) in the planned flooding of Massachusetts’ Swift River Valley during the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir.

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