Stream Piranha’s Debut Full-Length, Style

West Chester, PA based emo/punk three-piece Piranha is releasing their debut full-length album, Style, on July 7th. You can stream it below ahead of its official release.

Style covers the feelings that surround loss and depression, but contains undercurrents of hope and self-betterment throughout. Vocalist/guitarist Roy Atadgy’s riffs are straight-forward, distorted, and fuzzy, creating a sedated atmosphere that is reinforced by the emotional lyrics. The vocals are squashed into the mix and often delivered mournfully, at times making the album come across like a reluctant funeral for purity and innocence.

The swaying emotional states that surround the act of accepting loss with our human imperfection make Style a hard listen. The battle between appearing fine and concealing your downtrodden feelings is one that may be externally perceived as apathy. But as you dive deeper into the album, the lyrics and instruments make evident the fury that is suppressed beneath protective layers of insensitivity. The most revealing moments come halfway through, during “We Never Were.” Voice overs from people reflecting on issues of mental health ponder how one could fall into feeling sorry for themselves to the point of depression and suicide. The placement of the words and use of feedback convey an overwhelming mix of frustration and anger, which is followed by a similarly powerful instrumental build-up.

The instrumentation on Style is a comfortable mix of punk and shoegaze. There are quick, blaring guitars and somber build-ups, but the album never suffers from the overbearing or boring plagues that are normally found in shoegaze. Jeff Shoolbraid’s rumbling bass lines fill in the gaps nicely, and Kenny Miller’s drumming can be subtly odd, while ushering in the band’s monumental passages with hard hits. Overall, the three-piece band produces walls of bold, textured sounds that encompass the dark emotions of the lyrics, while holding onto blissful tones and melodies.

Stream Style below, and download it on bandcamp when it is officially released on Tuesday, July 7. Piranha is playing in West Chester on Thursday, July 16 (info), and in Philadelphia on Saturday, July 18 (info).

Feature image via bandcamp.