The music of New Jersey’s Fence is the sonic equivalent to a perfectly cooked medium-rare steak: it is seasoned enough to have an intense flavor to it and raw enough to feel tender. The soft plucking of guitar strings that open up their track “Quidditch” (streaming, from their 2018 split EP with Aqui) doesn’t prepare you for the punk beat-driven feast of screaming solos and vocals that dominate the song. Still, the surprises are welcome, and the feeling of comradery in the harmonies and well-arranged instrumentation underscore the passion that seeps through the band’s music. Fence has been covering the music of Neutral Milk Hotel as of late, and their take on it in their new EP is worth a listen for fans of the psych-folk group. Check out "Quidditch" below. – Rene Cobar
