Review Summary: Turning discomfort into routine
For anyone familiar with the Pool Kids discog up to this point, the Florida natives’ third outing begins in somewhat curious fashion. In its best moments, their self-titled 2022 sophomore record seamlessly merged themes of anxiety and resignation with explosive climaxes and somewhat intricate arrangements – all working in conjunction to whip up a veritable emotional whirlwind. And while some longtime fans cried foul at the relative lack of math rock compared to the debut, that element was used in a much more effective fashion on the self-titled: to further reinforce the already-complex feelings and sentiments being expressed in the lyrics. But what happens when you strip the loudness and anger away, leaving nothing but quiet defeatism and its reflective aftermath? Well, you get the opening title track of
Easier Said Than Done.
When the dreamlike guitars and gently rolling drums kick in, it’s as if you’ve entered a different world entirely. As singer/guitarist Christine Goodwyne croons on about her flaws and insecurities (
”I let people walk all over me / I take things too personally” are two of the first lines of the song and, by extension, the entire album), the music itself is surprisingly calm and sedate, as if all the anxieties and tensions of the self-titled have now become a comfort zone unto themselves. But “reflective” is really the word of the day here, as
Easier Said Than Done dwells as much in the past as it does the present. With Goodwyne herself writing all the lyrics, much of the record comes off as an aural autobiography of all the major events and relationships that led her to the present day… including more references to Florida cities and landmarks than you can shake an alligator at.
It’s in the more sentimental cuts that the record’s best material emerges. “Leona Street” is an extremely detailed account of an old friendship, with the titular street acting as both a literal and proverbial memory lane. In a lovely display of musical storytelling, the song’s rhythm guitar repeatedly slides up to replicate the sound of a car revving up its engine – a perfect fit for lyrics about brisk, restless nights. The same themes of youth and nostalgia are expressed much more sorrowfully on late-album highlight “Dani”, which explores childhood trauma and lack of emotional closure in a brutally honest way. Fittingly, the ballad takes on a glacial pace and continually builds in intensity, eventually becoming a mess of furious drum fills and crackling feedback as all tension (both musical and lyrical) is finally released.
As I alluded to earlier, the math rock elements are largely absent from the Pool Kids sound at this point; their original “emo/math” fusion is mostly just straight-up emo now. However, don’t think for a second that the instrumental standards have slipped in the slightest. The interplay between each member is as tight as ever, even in the most emotionally charged moments of the record; perhaps the best showcase of this is the bass and drum work of Nicolette Alvarez and Caden Clinton respectively. Whether it’s the infectiously smooth groove that permeates the aforementioned “Leona Street”, the herky-jerky staccato rhythms in the verses of “Last Word”, or the repetitive-yet-effective drone of “Sorry Not Sorry”, the two of them are just
locked in throughout the whole experience. And, as with the self-titled, they provide a strong anchor for Goodwyne and Andrew Anaya to lay down a plethora of killer melodies and riffs – even if the riffs are a bit more subdued this time around.
Really, the only major thing holding
Easier Said Than Done back from reaching the heights of its predecessor is the relative lack of peaks. Yes, there’s “Dani” as I mentioned earlier, but much of the record runs at a pretty similar speed and volume throughout. The beauty of the self-titled is that when it hit hard, it hit fucking
hard… and much of that is attributed to the careful use of dynamics featured on that record. Any time the self-loathing or desperation got laid too heavy, there would be an aggressive guitar part or shouted vocal to bring some catharsis to the picture. And that sense of dynamics is just not as present here as it should. However, it
does ironically lead to a more consistent tracklist overall.
Easier Said Than Done is probably the most thematically and musically coherent project Pool Kids have put out so far, something that’s aided by the dreamy washed-out production. Moments like the lushly harmonized chorus of closer “Exit Plan” or the surprisingly folk-oriented fingerpicked guitar of “Perfect View” simply wouldn’t be the same without that hazy blanket of sound covering them.
More than anything,
Easier Said Than Done sees Pool Kids acknowledging the complicated terrain they mapped out on the previous record while opening up new avenues in the process. The results may not always be perfect, but the fact that a transitional record can sound this confident and self-assured is still pretty damn impressive. But after all, Pool Kids’ modus operandi has always been to effectively transform anxiety and depression into strength and relatability. Self-reflection becomes its own form of reassurance to new and old listeners, and each pang of uncertainty becomes a communal event. And out of the quartet's whole (admittedly short) discog so far,
Easier Said Than Done feels the most comfortable in its own discomfort.
