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Absolutepunk Review

Who?

Nor’easter are a Chicago-based indie rock band. Guitarist and lead vocalist Ben Krogh, bassist Rob Cleary, drummer Andy Anderson, and guitarist/vocalist Chris Ammann execute a surprisingly passionate and mature sound for a band releasing its debut EP. The self-titled five-song effort is on iTunes and bodes well for a future full length.

How Is It?

It’s surprising, to say the least. As I said, this band has a mature sound…the kind of sound that you might expect out of a group with a couple full-lengths under their belt. Krogh’s vocals are a delight worth indulging in; he’s got one of those voices that sound intense and relaxed at the same time, like he’s barely trying but he’s got you on the edge of your seat. The guitar work is very well balanced throughout the EP, transitioning between indie rock doodles and all-out rock and roll explosions. No song on Nor’Easter clocks in at less than 4:37, which is the style that this band should stick to. The verses and chorus are what bring you in, but you stay for the extended instrumental portions where Nor’Easter show off their chemistry.

Opener “Statistics” showcases Krogh’s strong vocals right from the beginning, and as you get to tracks like “On Flattery and Frustration” and “A Medal Or A Chest To Pin It On”, the group’s surprisingly fluid chemistry is pronounced. “Suggestion Box” comes in during the middle of the EP and is over seven minutes long. This is the strongest track on this EP, as it features Nor’Easter combining all of their strong points into one rock and roll odyssey. The track is highlighted by Krogh crooning in the chorus “Oh my God, oh my God, are you listening / Cause I can’t sleep and I knew you’d be awake / Jesus please, Jesus please, hear me crying / Cause I don’t know how much silence I can take”. I’ve never been a religious person and I don’t know how religious Nor’Easter are, but I don’t care because that chorus still sends shivers down my spine even after 10 listens. Closer “A Fortress” is a rock-solid ballad-ish track, a tad slower than the rest of Nor’Easter’s work. This song and the EP as a whole remind me of a less grungy Manchester Orchestra, as the passion in the instrumentation and honesty in the lyrics are never held in check.

Nor’Easter are an extremely hardworking band producing some fantastic music, not for a beginning band, but for any band. This is probably my favorite EP released this year and leaves me wanting a full-length from these guys as soon as possible. They create their own album artwork, with CDs arriving in a folded cardboard paper cover decorated by what appears to be spray paint and stencils. On the inside, the CD is enveloped in a lyric “book” with a note that reads “Handmade with love by Ben, Anna, Chris, and Rob. Enjoy.” It’s things like this that make me truly fall for a band, especially when their music speaks even louder than their hard work. Nor’Easter are a band you need to keep a weather eye out for, as they have the potential to captivate more than just a college town crowd and become an adored band on this website.

Absolutepunk, 81%

White Noise of Nor’easter

Nor’easters are supposed to be chaotic. Out of hand. But the sound of Nor’easter the band is far from a New England whiteout. With an unexpected poise, a togetherness that one wouldn’t expect from the actual storm, or any college band for that matter, the music will speak for itself to any doubters.

“Statistics” starts the EP with a mesmerizing, desperate riff held under control with the lead-in of the drums and, eventually, the sweetness of another harmonizing guitar. If a quarter-life crisis were put to music, this is what it would sound like. While you knew from the start it was a song of melancholy, the lyrics grip even tighter to the mood with words like, “Frozen pieces of wedding cake/I think we made a big mistake.”

As the EP continues, Ben Krogh (vocals/lead guitar) presents a sound reminiscent of a calm Senses Fail, or a tense Sparta, take your pick – a comparison inescapable with “On Flattery and Frustration.” Impressive, but not a far cry from the first song. If you were to stop right there, the EP’s first impressions would fade, and the band would sink into the dead end label of generic, heavy-hearted rock band.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Instead, the EP continues, and somehow within an album that isn’t even whole, a new chapter emerges that distinguishes the band and creates a whole other plane, a new depth: maturity.

Rarely even found on an EP, this maturity is pressing and raw. There is an emotion within the all-around sound that slaps listeners awake even within one of the album’s softest songs. The teenage angst that no one seems to take seriously is nowhere to be found here with Nor’easter; taking its place are the genuine pain, insecurity and second-guessing that come with adulthood.

If anyone were unsure of this by the first few tracks, the ballad of “Suggestion Box” removes any doubt of immaturity. As the song lingers, harmonic vocals wail and lead the song out, leaving you with this peculiar sense of loss you never saw coming.

Enough with the pity party – “A Medal or a Chest to Pin it On” shakes the EP back to business, where the same theme of losing childhood steps up again, this time with more anger and vigor. An unexpected clash of assertion and tenderness catches the audience off guard with the lyrics, “Shut your mouth/The Lord will give you what to say.”

To round it off, the EP ends with the aptly named track “A Fortress.” A lullaby with the sound of an Irish folktale, the song seems a safe-haven for its writer, a post script that could act either as a hidden track for a full-length album or as a wedding waltz (strangely, the first comparison that came to mind was Explosions in the Sky’s “Your Hand in Mine”).

Nor’easter has used their first EP as a platform to successfully display their range with songs that dodge between fighting and surrendering to life. Inarguably, there is room – a need, even – to spread that range further. But the band has musically declared that they refuse to fall into a generic category of bands. Standards are set high for their first full-length; Nor’easter could harness their storm’s power, or just as easily let it swallow them whole. But if their EP is any prelude, they’ll not only sock you in the gut with their sound, they’ll stay there.

–Look Like Giant