Sorority Noise

You’re Not As _____ As You Think…

FILE UNDER: End of the world blues

ROCKS LIKE: Manchester Orchestra, Modest Mouse, Death Cab For Cutie

WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Sorority Noise have really looked to expand their sound with this follow-up to 2015’s acclaimed second album Joy, Departed. Like that record, this one traverses the dark channels of frontman Cameron Boucher’s heart, mind and life—taking on depression, death and anxiety, among other subjects—but does so via a wealth of previously unexplored sounds. The fragile confessional “Car” actually (but subtly) channels the Cars; “First Letter From St. Sean” riffs off some (early) Modest Mouse guitar sounds; and the lugubrious “A Better Sun” is a quasi-spoken-word lament shimmering with regret and sorrow.  

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: It’s an album that holds nothing back. Musically, it’s nuanced but raw, explosive but restrained, matched only by the torrent of unapologetic emotion of Boucher’s subject matter. He sings about his drug problems and his dead friends with unflinching honesty, and as hard-hitting as that is, it’s also life-affirming. Just listen to “Where Are You?”, which burns with beautiful defiance in the face of loss, loneliness and mortality.

OUR PICK: “Where Are You?”

http://triplecrownrecords.com/