Quitter is the new EP from Celebration Guns, the band featuring former member of Wizards of Time, Neba and Tiger Heist. The 5 demo tracks written over the past couple years prove that these guys have been pretty busy. “Hold still” is a noisy, guitar-driven tune that is just darn fun. The guitar hook, something that these cats are known for, is front and center. Justin Weir, vocalist/guitarist, introduces himself through a distorted vocal filter that he uses throughout the EP. It’s dirty and gritty and is a great counterpoint to the clean riffs and open drums. It’s on “Go to sleep” where you hear every one of these musicians come together to create a sound that is unique to them. The quirky lead guitar riff is, well, quirky at the onset of the tune, but once the band gets into the main part of the song it fits very nicely. “Ride home” and “The wait is over” follow suit: Interesting leads, distorted vocals and what I thought were really terrific melodies. Drummer Timothy O’Brien bassist Ryan Miller, and guitarist Chris Blanco, along with Weir, have carved out a rad EP everyone should check out.
The quartet of Jorge Garcia (guitars/vocals), Paul Arambula (guitar/vocals), Julio Flores (bass), and Noe Garcia (drums) offer up some post-punk on this EP. This is serious post-punk, almost too serious. The Joy Division influence here is in full effect. Now, I’m a sucker for post-punk and I’ve admitted that here before. And while Chandails have that sound down cold, I think they could have put of bit more of themselves into this record and take a crack at reinventing that sound and making it their own. Don’t get me wrong, the four tracks (“Diagonal Senses” being my favorite) are solid, the musicianship is there, and the vocals are great. Listen for yourself here.
There are only three tracks here to listen to but they are worth it. Dirt Moon’s introspective EP was penned by singer/songwriter Aaron Church, who for the past few years has experienced the death of his father and a failed relationship. Yikes. Church, along with Alex Adamcik, and Bryan Dague have a nice trio of tunes that really have tremendous merit. The songs are fueled by furious strumming – folk that’s on a bit too much caffeine – and it really works. After all, the songs are so emotional that anything slower it would be a bummer to listen to. “The Cover Story”, basically the foundation for the EP and the last song written as far I understand, is the sound and style that I think Church had in his head. And if he follows that road – I’m right there with him.
