Jump Start Records – 25 September 2020
“Even if you don’t believe me now, baby I can only let you down.”
The Midwest has long been on forefront of punk waves’ ebb and flow. Springfield, IL’s Attic Salt‘s new album Get Wise, the long awaited follow up to their 2017 self-titled release, may just wash them right on to the shores of success.
Throughout the band’s bio, they describe themselves as being “unapologetically pop” and that sentiment holds true and firm throughout Get Wise. The first track, “Last Song,” opens with guitarist Alyssa Currie’s stand alone cut-throat vocals: “I wouldn’t do you harm, but I don’t wish you well.” The line is sung with such a sweetness and is matched by the full band’s warm guitar tones and bright, bouncy pops from the snare drum, a lightness that is consistent throughout the album. “Last Song” was over before I knew it and the next track, guitarist Andy Harmon’s “Beautiful Lies” feels something like a cross over between Superchunk and The Muffs, two bands that kept coming to mind while listening along.
This album really highlights the subtleties in Currie & Harmon’s songwriting styles as the pair both trade leads. Currie’s songs have an anecdotal quality to them; in these songs there’s a story, she uses plain language to paint a picture and isn’t relying on metaphor to do the song’s heavy lifting. The songs “Mud” and “Fool 4 U” are two stand-out ballads, a ballad by Kim Shattuck‘s definition (a not-quite-ballad), but there’s a specific emotion Currie is looking to draw out of you with these songs. Harmon’s songs again remind me so much of Superchunk but made in the Midwest, so like The Arrivals, but with less grit on the sleeve. There’s elements of the guitar work that’s so rooted in 90s garage/grunge rock in terms chord choices and yet it remains bright and upbeat and just left of the dial. While some of the catchiest hooks occur in the Currie-lead songs, guitar leads, like in “Undiscovered” and “Souvenir” for example, are instant ear worms and become as sing-a-long-able as the song itself.
I found myself at times wanting the songs to go a little harder or get bigger during other parts but that’s just a personal preference. There is something to be said about the production and editing of this album. No two instruments compete with each other, not even the dual vocals of Currie and Harmon, which I do wish there had been more harmonizing at times as some of the songs do come off as “Currie’s song/Harmon’s song.” Their vocal pairings are quite distinct and compliment each other in a way not often found within the genre whenever they do happen. Most songs have just the right amount of flair, despite some ending just as I was beginning to groove, but the next track was right there to pick me back up with lively guitars and a poppy, boppy beat. So many of these songs are radio-ready and Attic Salt can only get better from here.
Get Wise is a crash course on life, relationships, home, elsewhere, and where you want to be.
Available now on Jump Start Records.
Favorite Tracks: “Souvenir” & “Truck Stop”
Favorite Bits: The musical cliff “Last Song” left me hanging on because I was hoping for either a key change or more song; Guitar lead in “Mud,” Main riff of “Truck Stop,” all the Superchunk vibes
