Here at Stars and Scars, we receive a ton of album submissions for review. Nearly all of them are sent out to my contributors for their consideration because I’m always busy with editing, photography, and the rest of my crazy town life. It’s rare that new music makes me stop dead in my tracks and commit to writing the review myself. And that’s exactly what The Great War‘s Marching Band did.
Upon first listen of fresh material, it’s natural for a music journalist to make connections and comparisons. My “this sounds like” trajectory was all over the indie/emo map. Can a band channel Owen and Taking Back Sunday in the same song? Marching Band incorporates the clever lyricism of Bright Eyes merged with the quirky folk of The Moldy Peaches with a little Say Anything rock attitude thrown in.
The EP kicks off with “Songs,” a seemingly tame, whispery intro until it unexpectedly builds into an explosive anti-love letter halfway through the track. This surprising roller coaster of a song hooked me right away. “Homecoming” made me chuckle with its “I spent Saturday night with my friends, and I realized that I have no friends” opening line, setting up a story of young adult growth and change that we all can relate to. The Great War guitarist/lead singer Fritz Ortman and drummer/singer Katherine Fortunato may as well be love children between Benjamin Gibbard and Conor Oberst, injecting distorted Postal Service-esque “doot doots” into another strong, lyrically descriptive track. “Voice” is a quick minute and 46-second upbeat ditty including a bagpipe-sounding guitar breakdown – could these two be any more unpredictable and wonderful? Rounding out the EP, “Track Record” features a strained Fortunato “having the shittiest day” while aggressively backing up her outburst. On each track, The Great War don’t go for polished – they go for broke and authentic, producing sounds as raw and frantic as the emotions behind the lyrics.
Marching Band reminds me of everything I loved about being a teenager in the early 2000s emo landscape – the awkwardness, the angst, the discovery. Perhaps a heavy pedestal to place it on, this album revives my hope in NJ’s next generation of musicians. The Great War is a band I would have proudly donned my studded belt for and drove to see every weekend in high school. I love even more that I can’t find much about the band online – a true diamond in the rough. If a label doesn’t pick these guys up, I might have to start one myself.
Keep marching, TGW.
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