Straight Out of the Dryer
With Love, - Snarls (Newer Music Friday)
My past collided with my present in the best way possible today. I used to listen to Snarls ALL THE TIME back when their album Burst was released in 2020. There’s a song on there “All of This Will End” that I was absolutely enamored with, and every once in a while I would think “hm, I wonder where they are now?” Well, I’ve got my answer, and what a lucky day it is to find it. Today marks the release of their second album, With Love, and MAN is it all I ever could have wanted! (And more!!!) I could tell from the first few seconds that With Love, would be a hit for me, and my intuition stayed true throughout.
Speaking of the first few seconds, the opening track “With Love” is a total masterpiece. It starts off really dark and brooding, with guitars are really fuzzy and scratchy in that vein that I call “sonic boom” — the type of guitar that takes over your whole head and drowns out absolutely everything else. This makes the introduction to the vocals that much better, as they have this bright sound that totally contrasts with the darkness of the chords & instrument quality. This song has a really cool detail in the punctuating “hey! hey! hey!”s towards the end of it, that sort of moment that makes a song feel participatory, one that everyone who adores the tune will no doubt sing (read: yell) along to when they hear it again.
The third track “Heavy Drinker” is another standout for me. It’s got this sing song-y melody that tumbles along, a cool sound to contrast the laid-back tone it’s sung with. I love the “no money left to spend/but I don’t want it to end” and “I’ll play your favorite song/everybody sing along” parts, it almost sounds like the type of phrase that would be in a classic song from a Disney animated show! (In fact for some reason when I first listened I could only imagine Phineas from Phineas and Ferb singing that, and I really don’t know why). The bridge is out of the world stellar, an eight word repeat that just knocks the breath out of you when you hear it. The way that “her type of girl” resolves up instead of down is really fascinating, because that makes it sound optimistic even though it’s really a pretty dejected phrase.
“Moon Tides” is a great one at track five, one that’s got a spacey feel that’s still grounded enough to hit you with full force. The drum beat is so good it can take you to all new world on its rolling power alone. I love the addition of these keyboard notes after the first chorus, the ones that almost sound like a doorbell from another dimension. They balance so well with guitar that sounds like teardrops in the rain, a standout among an already strong landscape of sound. The high notes on the chorus are absolutely amazing to hear, keeping control while portraying deep emotion, something that is darn tough to do!
If you know me you’ll know my track 7 rule (basically that I tend to love track 7s the most on any album I hear), and I’m happy to report this stands absolutely true on With Love, as “Driving Faster” is the song that I came back to the most during my several listen-throughs today. It’s a cool settle-down song, one that stands in contrast with the other more high-energy songs on the album. The guitar reminds me a little of Led Zeppelin’s “Bron-Y-Aur” — one of my all-time favorite songs that simultaneously calms me and forms a pit in my stomach. This is not a bad thing, by the way. In this song, there’s a really cool chord progression of one guitar that sounds kind of like a underwater sinking heart that’s then juxtaposed with another guitar that sounds more optimistic. Interesting thing is once that second guitar is added, the first one seems a little less ominous. “Driving Faster” is a terrifically vulnerable one that has the perfect balance of everything, especially harmonies. As silly as it sounds, this song to me is like fabric-softener scented laundry straight out of the dryer - comforting and warm in a nicely repetitive way.
With Love, has already made its way into my top albums of the year, and I say that with LOTS of love! Snarls have delivered a beautifully vulnerable and powerful collection of songs that are suited for anything, anywhere, and anyone.
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Do you have Sirius XM? Do you like the Beatles? Well have I got news for you! Last year I recorded one of the “My Fab Four” features they have on there, and it’ll be airing next week on The Beatles Channel (Sirius XM Channel 18 or on the app!) on Monday 5/6 7am EST, Thursday 5/9 1am EST, and Saturday 5/11 10pm EST. I’ll be talking about and playing four of my favorite Beatles songs, so make sure to tune in!