You Can Be My Wave

Almost a year after releasing The Green Lake Demo, Red Museum went on to release The Harley Quinn EP. This 4-track EP is a much more polished, refined, and varied offering compared to their last. It kicks off with Arnold Wesker, The Ventriloquist, a joyous rock anthem with major pop tendencies about cutting the ties that bind, and rising above whatever is holding you back. The only thing holding this song back are a few wordy lines that don't seem to fit in the allotted space, and therefore are awkwardly rushed. The following track, Squentin Frownalot, sees a return to the flashy guitar work which always was a key selling feature of this band for me. Lyrically though, we have a very sappy and cute love song. Ilia Yordanov sings from the perspective of a person who perhaps was in a very lonely, dark place. This new found love, though, seems to turn everything around through providing not only deep companionship, but guidance, healing, and a truly bright future.

A little bit of post-hardcore angst returns on Chronic Contradictions, boasting some more flashy guitar work and an odd-metered groove. The ending of this track is super epic with soaring guitar leads and sweeping pianos performed by bassist Dimiter Yordanov. The final track is a big change of pace for the band. Fall is an intimate track beginning with some reverse delayed guitar and Ilia Yordanov's dejected voice. The song builds and builds until finally we get a huge ending with crashing cymbals, steady kick drum, and driving guitars. I also absolutely love the high vocal harmonies in the back that he belts out. It's a pretty grand and cathartic ending to this short collection of songs.

This EP sees improvements on many fronts. Performances and band chemistry are much tighter, Ilia Yordanov delivers much stronger vocal performances, and the musical variety here just shows how much maturity the band has developed over the short interim between releases. The only complaint I have here which does carry over from the last EP is that the production still feels a little flat, not really doing these great songs justice. If the last EP was a little too frantic and chaotic for your tastes, then you might get a lot more out of this one instead. I highly recommend it.