Answerman experiments with garage, punk and shoegaze on “The Way You Want” EP

Released earlier this month, Answerman’s The Way You Want EP is a fun, short dive into the worlds of shoegaze and garage rock. The EP’s six songs are full of simple yet catchy and gripping riffs and chord progressions, with vocalist Sam Pitino’s talk-singing often filtered or muffled to become part of the instrumental rather than something shoved into the foreground. On this EP, it works: just take a listen to “Pie Eater Starfish.” The Way You Want has its surprises as well, such as the grinding guitars that drop on slowed-down track “Bad Arm” and the dinky drum machine tick on the final bridge of “Fall.” – Jake Reed