Goodbye AugustYou Couldn't Even Wait (EP)

A rock n’ roll scene has emerged from the depths over the last few years fusing depleted serotonin, big fat riffs, and calming vibes rolled up into a smokeable package.

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It’s not post-comedown The Stone Roses-core and it’s not outright 90s shoegaze either. Pioneered by bands such as the excellent Teenage Wrist and Basement, Goodbye August’s debut EP You Couldn’t Even Wait is like that HSC young adult book you resent reading at first but leaves you in a puddle of tears by the end. The concept is simple: viewing grief through the lens of someone who’s lost a friend, sister, daughter, wife, and mother. Powerful stuff, and I’ve yet to talk about the music.

Rest Easy is emblematic of big rock song riffs. Yanno, large. You’ll also strap yourself to a rollercoaster of dynamics that’s tracking around the frequency band. Lackadaisical guitars yawn in and out of frame as vocalist Andrew Taylor shouts his arguments at the wall and ultimately himself. Seguing into a bright and bombastic I Let The Sorrow Fill Me does betray the boys hardcore past in terms of sonics, but structure is set up like a lamentation for arena rockers. Vocals take a back seat and meandering, lonely leads take charge, lulling a listener out of the realm of work and bills and into this compelling narrative.

These plucky young Goodbye August lads will be on the radar of Aussie and international rock fans alike in no time

That dejection after a frustrating night out reflects like neon on rain-soaked asphalt in Where’d You Go Without Calling, equal parts progressive and grunge, spiced up with a few jarring lines of harsh vocals. If these choruses aren’t big enough to cast all your troubles away, perhaps you won’t ever be satisfied.

Letterbox Pills is their cigarette in the tuning pegs pub rocker, all swagger and muscle and radiating the dying heat of dispassion. The textures and moods on this EP transport the listener on a journey into the world of these vivid and real characters, all dealing with their pain in ways making sense to only them. Much like dreamy mumblecore films of the early 2000s the EP ends on an uplifting, vocals-in-arms track, digging deep into mighty bags of supercrunch fuzz (You Couldn’t Even Wait). It fits right into the slot to round out an impressive debut. With a bit more time and attention plied to their craft, these plucky young Goodbye August lads will be on the radar of Aussie and international rock fans alike in no time.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Rest Easy, I Let The Sorrow Fill Me, Letterbox Pills
STICK THIS NEXT TO: Teenage Wrist, Basement, Soul Blind

You Couldn’t Even Wait is out now.