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Self- admittedly, it took me a few listens to fully appreciate the brilliance of this EP (My Itunes count being somewhere in the 30s upon starting this review). Having been enamored with the promise ring flavored pop sensibility of former band, Street Smart Cyclist, I hoped that Snowing would pick up where SSC left off. While I would place both bands within the spectrum of 90’s emo revival, I would adamantly argue that they inhabit separate ends of this spectrum; SSC fitting somewhere in between Nothing Feels Good and Four Minute Mile and Snowing in between End of the Ring Wars and Where You Are and Where You Want to be (If you think this is a Taking Back Sunday album, promptly stop reading this review).
In Fuck Your Emotional Bullshi t, Snowing channels a fantastic urgency—guitars that are simultaneously jaunty and crushing, mathy drum tempos, and wailing vocals coalesce into a flood of emotion that would overtake Noah’s ark. Lyrically, Snowing is among the best; emotional without being whiny, powerful without being melodramatic. There is a biting honesty in these songs, a confessional candor that seems especially remarkable in today’s world of contrived sentiment and cryptic mumblings. In “Kirk Cameron Crowe” the singer, John Galm, sputters, “I only wish you were staring at me when I roll over because I can't sleep at night, or I'm smiling because there's snow falling outside, or when the breaks lock and we're clearly gonna die. I'm gonna grab your arm and scream, "I love you!.”
The EP opens with “Sam Rudich” a perfect opener to showcase Snowing’s angular dexterity, complete with noodly guitars and Galm’s strident voice, growling out the lines, “I feel nothing like my father. He's been sleeping underground. Don't wait around. There's nothing there at all.” Track 2, “Important Things (Spector Magic),” carries on the tap-your-feet-pump-your-fist tempo of the EP, while lyrics spell out post-college ennui, part discontent-part disillusionment.
The next song, “Pump Fake” is easily my favorite song on an EP full of really good songs. “Pump Fake” slows down the blistering pace of the EP in favor of twinkling guitars which swell up and pour out as the song progresses, finally concluding with a vocal indictment of a love gone sour, “And what do you think I would do after you left? Would I stay sober? I think it'd be much worse. I'd cut my arms off. No regeneration.”
The two final tracks, “Kirk Cameron Crowe” and “Methuselah Rookie Card” carry on the EP’s frantic energy, complete with an At the Drive-In reference (I'll drive home screaming At the Drive-In. I've been driving this thing for too long) and a slew of sing-alongable lines (I've been living like a sailor, my sea legs are wearing down).
This EP is not only remarkably good but furthermore, I commend Snowing on treading new ground in what has very much a genre of repeated, and sometimes obnoxious, derivation. I hear a lot of bands who are interested in recreating the Midwestern emo sound without adding to the equation, I mean if your band sounds exactly like Cap’n Jazz, well I’d just as soon listen to Cap’n Jazz. Thankfully this is not the case with Snowing or a few choice other Penn-Jersey bands (I also recommend Pirouette, By Surprise, Hightide Hotel, and Everyone Everywhere).
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