Patient Zero Records – 19 Aug 2022
This one’s for fans of melodic punk, the band Lifetime, and “whoas”
Formed as side project during *what else* the COVID-19 pandemic, this five piece is comprised of members living in the scene overlap between New York’s Capital District (Albany) and Western Mass (Springfield). Lead singer Matt Wilson sings for Bay Area easycore heroes Set Your Goals, while the rest of the band also play in Restraining Order,Maniac and Wet Specimens—the last being a group that’s now on my radar. The band released a three song demo on cassette in January 2021 before gracing us with this EP in August of last year.
The band wears its Lifetime influence on its sleeve. Unlike Yemin, Katz and Co., whose lyrics lean towards the interpersonal, Near Dark also layers in the political. It’s most apparent in the second track “Blinders”, where the band rails against friends who are blind to the effects of U.S. foreign policy.
The first time I heard anything by Matt Wilson was “An Old Book Misread” from Set Your Goals’ first LP Mutiny, which felt like an update of Minor Threat’s “Filler”. The third second on the EP, “12 Steps”, seems to be another banger in this vein, as Wilson seems to be singing to a friend who found solace in the bottle and then found God in the program. While Wilson seems more understanding in 2022 than in 2006, he seems critical of the organization’s willingness to take advantage of people at their lowest point, summarizing a preferred approach in the outro:“Substitute one crutch for another / Lean on the cross when we should lean on each other”.
The final track, “Poisoned at the Root”, highlights Near Dark’s twin guitar attack. Opening with a driving riff, the song quickly pivots into palm muted verses and into a soaring chorus. In the chorus, Wilson laments the disappointment in his having fallen in love with the idea of a partner instead of the actual partner. He also acknowledges the unhappiness and anger that this causes for that partner, with whom he is breaking up.
If I had one complaint about the record, it’s with the vocal style on its lonesome. Matt Wilson has pipes for sure, but his range sits at roughly the same register for the whole EP. Much like culinary dishes benefit from blending sweet, sour, salty, spicy and umami flavors, Near Dark would benefit from some additional vocals—even if it’s just some sprinkling of more harmony.
On the whole, it’s a solid debut EP from a band that I want to hear more from. Check it out!
YO VINYL NERDS: You can order this 12” EP in limited edition black from Near Dark’s Bandcamp page. (Nowadays, I think that black is the rarest of vinyl.)
Once hailing from the salty tundra of Syracuse, NY, Ben now calls the DC suburbs his home. He fell in love with punk after listening to Punk-O-Rama 3, Less Than Jake and MXPX in middle school. He loves to slam dance but is too large to stage dive.
When he’s not pretending to have exquisite musical taste, he’s raising two children, designing RPG products and practicing law. (Who knows if he’ll ever get the hang of it.)
