Review Summary: Feeling upset? Feeling down? Free Throw brings some songs to aid that slump.
Yet another one of the ‘Midwestern Emo’, Free Throw hails from Tennessee, America and claims to enjoy playing sad song and jamming at people’s houses. What is evident from this EP is that this young band has a lot of energy, as well as having the emotion necessary to pull of this music. What you get is nothing less than an enjoyable, whilst saddening 14 minutes of enjoyable emo.
The best part of the record is also the saddest. It’s short, sad songs, held strong by fun melodies, rough chords and virile vocals make you want to sit and drink alone. It is incredibly short, as mentioned, with a running time of only 14 minutes; you are left short, feeling as though something is missing. However, this fact can be ignored when you consider the overall quality of those songs.
Yes, maybe they are just a little simple, not breaking any ground in this style nor music in general, but they are to a great standard, rather being left short. The guitar tone is enjoyable, rather than being a standard studio tone that affects so much of the modern music out there today.
Lvl. 2 Pidgey in a Masterball is an amusing take on the age-old girl/boy relationship stories, though it does give off a distinct ‘drink-alone’ vibe. The contrast between My High and My Low presents an intriguing differentiation, with the use of a distant vocal effect, whereas the much sadder My Low is focussed on a more centralised vocal, more lamenting tone.
This is really music for a wet, autumn day. Sitting out, watching the rain drip down and thinking about all the stupid stuff you did in the last 6 months. The sense of minimalism on tracks such as Gersberms! make this theme feel more consistent, considering that this song only has 2 lines of lyrics. In fact, even the album cover reflects it. A field covered in rain and a lone tree and this image is conveyed wonderfully by the lyrics.
The drumming is very simple, yet tasteful. Neither flamboyant drumming styles nor blast beats are found here, instead replaced with rim shots and reasonably normal drum beats. The bass cruises throughout the background creating a nice ambience to the music.
The downside to Free Throw’s music is the cliché lyrics and overall similarity between some of the songs due to the guitar tone, or key being used. This doesn’t ruin the fact that this is a great record, especially for a debut, but it does give the group something to work on come their next recording.
I think right nows the perfect time to tell you that we're taking a break
