Review Summary: It’ll be like this forever
Ben Quad left an immediate impression with their 2022 debut LP, the short and sweet
I’m Scared That’s All There Is. That album was, if nothing else, a whole lot of fun - earnest emo tunes propelled along by ample energy, pop-punk catchiness meeting whimsical mathy instrumentation.Now, two years later, the band is back - this time with an EP.
Ephemera is short (five tracks in under twelve minutes) but it’s not really sweet at all - there may still be noodling, kinda goofy, guitar soaring this way and that, but the center of gravity has now shifted towards visceral skramz-ian territory. The songs are frenetic and urgent lamentations, and the EP’s diminutive size is both its preeminent strength and its most glaring flaw - while
Ephemera is a blast to listen to, despite its snarling demeanor, you’ll always want more as the last track ends. Ben Quad’s ability to blend ferocity with relative accessibility here is greatly appreciated. It’s fitting, though, that for this tiny release, it’s the tiny things which really elevate the EP to greater heights - like that summery electronic beat which opens “I Did Not Create The Rules” and somehow propels the listener into the energetic rush forward which follows, or the way the lead vocalist’s drawn-out howl of “
ephemera” intersects with backing vocals’ more melodious repetition of “
we were made to throw away” to perfect the dramatic climax of the title track. The vibe might be a little different this time around, but Ben Quad’s definitely still got it. Hey, if you have an hour to spare, that means you can fit in five spins of this neat little jam.
