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Stegosaur
Adventure 7”
Seafoam Recordings
With their latest effort Adventure, Stegosaur is exemplifying the indie love of things both old and new; the three song album is being released as both a physical 7” vinyl and a digital EP on iTunes, making for a quick and easy listen. While each of its three tracks is easily discernible from the remainder of the album, they are musically simple. Fortunately for Adventure, Stegosaur possesses a pop sensibility which makes the band’s sound somewhat catchy just the same.
Adventure starts off with “A Headache,” which opens with a four chord palm muted progression and steady tambourine under the vocals of Jerid Reed Morris. Morris’ sense of melody is immediately appealing, with his lower range bringing bands like Weatherbox of even occasionally Say Anything to mind. After 30 seconds the tambourine evolves into drums and bass, and the four chord progression is replaced by a new one, this time distorted. The full band sound is solid, and Morris’ attempts at passion are strong. While the higher tones will inevitably wear on some listeners’ nerves, Morris’ near-scream allows the song to build and grow. The song is all rise, suddenly just falling off at the end. Realistically the biggest problem with “A Headache,” which clocks in at barely over a minute and a half, is that it isn’t longer.
“Big Breath” follows, and contrasts well with “A Headache.” Upbeat moving guitar starts everything off, and remains a staple in the song’s structure. The sturdy bassline keeps things steady in the choruses, while taking a more dominant position in the bridge. Morris’ vocals stay in a safer range, likely giving “Big Breath” a wider appeal than “A Headache” and its hit or miss approach. Although the vocals are more consistent, listeners will notice a musical rotation between gentle verses and a much more aggressive chorus reminiscent of Cursive.
The final track on Adventure is “Bloooooood.” While it is the final and longest song on the album, “Bloooooood” does little to present itself as a powerful closer. The entirety of the track hovers over a steady synth part and although the choruses are somewhat darker than the verses, everything sounds so remarkably similar that the song never builds at all. A quick pause filled with clapping and an energized drum fill suggests the song may be on the verge of a breakthrough, but “Bloooooood” simply falls immediately back into its comfort zone and putters out in the same fashion.
Adventure is a decent indie EP, but not much more. Fans looking for a quick and relatively easy listen have found it in Adventure. For those looking for more fulfillment and something with more substance, however, Stegosaur may not be the way to go with this release.
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