Local post-hardcore band And Now The Weather recently released their second EP, which shows progression in their art of thoughtful lyrics alongside designed ambience and heavy moments. Following up 2014’s Mind/Media, Childhood’s themes are humanistic and personal, and work well being delivered in spoken words and shouts with intricate instrumentals all around.
Much of Childhood stands out due to its layers of guitar riffs, which range from the jangly and quick to the atmospheric and relaxed. Vocalist Caleb Delp peppers his thoughts in with varied emotion, often seeking wisdom in retrospection or getting angry with the problems of today. The drums are generally forceful and usher in many of the time changes with tricky fills, while the bass often lays back to provide deep textures to the mix. The ideas brought forth on Childhood revolve around coming to terms with how the world actually is, after being given high hopes and beliefs about human nature in your early years. For example, “Headlights” opens the EP with a ghostly riff, and the lyrics use headlights that shine through house windows as a metaphor for how our actions can permeate through the world around us more than we normally think.
Some of the band’s best moments come and go quickly towards the end of “Nightmares,” with a short onslaught of noisy riffs, clamoring drums, and a hoarse shout, among more ambient moments. That track is one of the most forthright of the bunch, but the band also gets particularly concerned with humanity’s ills on the EP-closer, “Xenophobia.” The instrumentals convey a sense of grief, and Delp discusses the disgusting amount of racism that is prevalent around us, singing “the problem is a disconnection, a societal infection.” The song climbs a sonic hill to feel grandiose, and gang vocals come in to emphasize their feelings on recent, unavoidable headlines, “the fact that I know who the shooter was is why this is getting old.” A lot of the lyrics are cathartic in nature, expressing feelings of disappointment or desire for change, but And Now The Weather does show regard for the beauty of possibility on “Birth.” In stripped-down acoustic fashion the song feels up-close and personal, and Delp breaks down the fascinating state of existence that is so often taken for granted, “If you think about it, the chances of me being here are completely absurd / stuck somewhere between the moon, the sun, and spoken word.”
Overall, Childhood tugs at your emotions with earnest ideas and complex instrumentation. The band shows a lot of potential, and changes up their sound very often within the just under 20-minute EP. And Now The Weather has creative talent and their heads in the right place, and with a more focused sound and tighter songwriting they could be even more successful with their emotive post-hardcore.
Below, listen to/download the EP via bandcamp, and check out an acoustic performance of “Birth.” Catch And Now The Weather playing at Bourbon & Branch on Monday, August 31st, get more info here.
Childhood was recorded with Jake Detwiler at Fresh Produce Studios, and mastered by Dave Downham at The Gradwell House.
Photo by Lois Shupp via Facebook.
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