I don’t like playing favorites. Really. I don’t. But early on in my time here at The Deli, Quiet Company wowed me with a live showing and has done well to keep a band-sized section of my heart occupied. QC has been busy lately, recording and mixing their new EP, Songs for Staying In. Though it debuts officially May 11th, for the last few weeks they’ve been releasing a song and a documentary-style video every Monday, gearing up for the official release. On top of that, preorders of the EP give you an instant-download of the album with a physical copy of the CD mailed to you on or before release day.
Magical.
The EP is a solid release, and if you’re familiar with the band—and my earlier review of them—the ground tread here is similar to what they’ve tread before, that is, a strong and smooth sound that dabbles in both the realms of good rock and good pop. The world where Elton John’s cover of “Pinball Wizard” happily frolics. The difference from their earlier work, however, comes from what the band refers to, in the earlier mentioned documentary style videos, as their “Sergeant Pepper phase.” Bringing in friends and family to round out an extra choir and employing a slew of random instruments from glockenspiels and stylophones to good old fashion whistling, Songs for Staying Inis a release of Quiet Company’s familiar stylings with a bunch of new, exciting and fun stuff you’ve never heard them do before.
As for the songs themselves, the first track, “How Do You Do It” literally had me singing along with it on my first play through. It’s hooks are catchy and of all the songs on the album it’s the least experimental, which is good, because it ends up being an all-around solid rock tune. From there, the style of the album eases up more and more until you get to the end, offering a good variety—a steady shift from solid rock to smoother ballads, think of the album as the downward slope of a rollercoaster—for an EP release, which is refreshing, and gives you something to listen to regardless of what mood you’re in. The only drawback here is that pulls back on the tonal consistency, though that’s hardly what an EP should be trying to achieve. All the songs exhibit the excellent crescendo style of song that Quiet Company has always been so good out—songs often starting out small or slow and then building up to a massive wall of sound. The most frequent recurring instrumentals outside of Quiet Company’s norm is a horn section, which is a welcome compliment to the already piano-heavy music that QC displays. And perhaps the most exciting surprise is a kazoo breakdown in “Things You Already Know.” Yes, kazoo breakdown. It’s as great and fun as you can imagine.
The message behind the release, like the band itself, is love, and it definitely comes through well. Even in the song “Jezebel or ‘A Song About My Friend and That Whore He Dated.’” And a band that can make a title like that about love, well that should be a band you want to listen to. Basically, if you like what Quiet Company’s been doing for the last two albums, you should really enjoy this, and if what they’ve been putting out hasn’t really done it for you, there might be something on here to sway your mind.
All in all, Songs for Staying In is a solid EP release from a great band. It takes a lot of fun chances with its self and offers a wide variety of music for the money, and while it doesn’t reinvent the band, it certainly treads some new territory and gives a lot of stuff we haven’t heard from them before while refining and sharpening what they already have. Quiet Company is celebrating the EP release May 7th at Encore alongside The Black and White Years and The Rocketboys. 611 Red River. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm. Songs for Staying In available for ‘preorder’ now with official release May 11th.
–Mitchell Mazurek