Nerves Junior-Craters EP

First, a thank you to We Listen to You for introducing me to this EP and possibly my new favorite band. Nerves Junior are a band from Louisville that have been around for a while, but have completely flown under my radar for no good reason. Craters is their newest EP, a sort of starting over point due to various lineup changes occurring within the band, though you would never know it from how fully formed this release sounds.

The Craters EP is three slices of perfectly pieced together electronica informed indie rock, the result of listening to everything Radiohead released since Kid A, but not trapped by their influence like, per se Alt-J are. They all have a gradual, steady build to them that the band manages to effortless pull of within each song, adding an extra "hmmph" to the tracks that could just get away with their steady, haunting pace. The way the title track shifts from cool synth lines and house style beats and clicks to the ringing guitar line takes over the song, rising the track before all these elements collide near the end in a perfect swirl. "Intern", the best track on the EP, is a near recreation of "Reckoner", from the central, shimmering guitar riff to new front man Zachary O’Renick matching Thom Yorke's falsetto to an impressive degree. However, the song throws you through a loop, swelling without detection before exploding with a dark intensity (communicated through the instantly electrified guitar and O'Renick's anguished vocals) that is just instantly memorizing.

"Goodnight Nobody" continues the intensity "Intern", but operating on a peak and valley system, with Nerves Junior knowing just the right moment to drop to nothing but bass and electronic percussion, and when to detonate every instrument at once. The soft, lush finale that ends "Goodnight Nobody", along with the EP, is a lovely touch, a simple way to contrast all the creative bombast just heard. It maybe just three songs, but the Craters EP is one of the best things I've heard all year; for someone who does not usually enjoy meticulously produced, deeply mechanical bands, Nerves Junior so much more than that, capturing a wonderful creative sound with these three tracks.


Links:

Nerves Junior's Facebook
Buy the Craters EP, from the band themselves