With love

Nagging

With love

Take this to heart

May 10, 2024
Web Exclusive

By Mark Moody

Columbus, Ohio and Surnadal, Norway didn't quite make the list of cities mentioned in Huey Lewis' “The Heart of Rock and Roll.” But don't worry, as the Snarls (residents of the first city we mentioned above) have made sure “that back beat” is alive and well in these cities and wherever else they may travel. The trio of Chlo White (vocals, guitar), Riley Hall (bass, vocals) and Mick Martinez (guitar, vocals), grabbed Chris Walla's (Death Cab for Cutie, Ratboys) adopted hometown to record the their second album. With love, under the watchful eye of his production. The group's previous album, 2020 Explosion, makes for a nice listen as well, but here everything sounds up a notch and new elements are introduced. Lyrics, pre-chorus, chorus, post-chorus, bridges, creative harmonies, blasting bass, incredibly clean drums, crushing layers of guitar, oh my.

In an age where albums are loaded on the front end, Snarls make everything here count and save the two best songs on the album for last. Not that the start of the album isn't just as good, with four surefire winners at the top. The album's title track announces itself with a simmering start that culminates in a storming alt-rock anthem. If sentiments like “you're all I want to know, never let me go” aren't exactly new, the band's lyrical concerns hearken back to a simpler time where they celebrated suffocating crashes, late-night drinking, and the cool rush. of getting a nice haircut, were nice things to worry about. As long as they were decked out with killer hooks and sing along choruses, delivered here in spades, hearts, diamonds and spades.

The rest of the top four really set things up. “Big Fish” starts off on a more downbeat note, but quickly escalates into a thrilling race of a song with the strained harmonies pushing things into the red. The best of the opening album, the big and boisterous 'Heavy Drinker', extols the virtues of spending your night drinking in a seedy bar, with an even crappier band playing. Huge guitars and massive “oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah” harmonies will have you singing along to White's carefree “walking out the door, skipping my errands.” The following 'Baby Bangs' is a marvel in its own right, as the dreamy pop ballad focuses on moments of insecurity, but morphs into an almost metallic breakdown by the end.

The middle of the album softens a bit, with Hall's heavy bass line on “Wishing Bones” leading this track to the best of the lot. The urgency of “Star Power” picks things up again for the album's meltdown ending. The bleak screeching of the guitars on “Sugar Rush” occasionally pushes hard on the song's curves. A wild roller coaster ride of a song. While the seven-minute closer, “Ur Song/Lovers of Valdaro,” finds the band's winning formula perfectly muddled. The first half of the song finds White at her most vulnerable. “I took the long way home so I could hear your song,” which puts the listener in the moment. A perfect power pop song that slowly morphs into an extended muscular drone of an outro. The type of wild and woolly close, anchored by Mike Davis' steady drumming, that would make Yo La Tengo green with envy.

For a band only two albums old, you can imagine it when you listen back With love in the studio must have left the trio with big goofy grins on their faces. His own reward for a job well done. The energy emitted over the course of the album's 10 tracks will have toes tapping and heads bobbing along from Columbus to Surnadal and places in between. Sonically speaking, the smile it causes With love it could easily be the best thing you hear all year. (www.snarlsmusic.com)

Author Rating: 8/10