Genre is the combined workings of Zac Markey and Corey Gomez. The band released The Weepy Omelette EP a few years back and now, with the release of their second EP, fans finally get to hear just what the duo has been working on all this time. Scrape Your Voices on the Stars proves worth the wait.
The album opens with “East Coast Sunshine Blues”, a song that just might be my favorite from the entire Genre oeuvre. The track starts with a homemade electropop sound and then, slowly, it begins to reveal the dynamic force that is Genre.
The next song, “Just Go”, comes at the listener with a fun-loving musicality that keeps the darker lyrics dancing along. The vocals have an untrained quality and may be a little more charming for it, adding a little more quirkiness to the EP overall.
By the time we hit “To See and Be Seen”, the third track, a contention can be heard between the moments of levity and those of discord. The theme continues throughout Scrape Your Voices on the Stars. “Siren” will have you jamming to the summery tune while “Cat Problems” will have you surprisingly somber. It’s dynamic, changeable, more an expression of a period of time rather than a singular moment.
The EP closes with “Wyld Stallyn Music” which is also the first single from the EP. I say it takes a certain chutzpah to release a 7+ minute track as the single from any release. It’s sort of daring any radio station to play the full track. Then again, it certainly offers a more comprehensive understanding of an artist that another track might. And, I do love “Wyld Stallyn Music”. More than just providing the missing, mythological music of Bill & Ted, “Wyld Stallyn Music” gets blood rushing and the feet moving. In truth, the song fades out after only 4 minutes and those that hold out through the short interlude of near silence will discover a shorter, second song that serves as outro.
You can hear “Wyld Stallyn Music” here but you’ll want to head over to iTunes to purchase the full album right here.
