Paranoia will destroy ya – Nightswim 

The debut EP from perhaps my favorite local band, “Nightswim,” has arrived!! And my my is it glorious. Five songs in twelve minutes, tons of distortion and echo. It’s an abrasive and raucous ep that’s sure to get you jumping. 

It’s no secret that I love this band and both Jonathan and Weston’s previous band, “The Varas,” and Davey’s band “Off Peace.” I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them twice; I saw the Varas four times and I saw Off Peace only once, but I do own their EP “Stick in the Mud” on CD. 

Weston’s bass lines really stand out to me on this record. His tone is so gritty and thick and fuzzy. And with how the record is mixed, you can always hear his bass clearly. Specifically on the track “Tremors” his bass lines are always “active”; he’s always moving around the fretboard, which gives the bass and the music itself this very bouncy sound. There’s tons of cool licks all across this EP, but “Tremors” is chock full of them. The intro line, the verse part, and the line during the solo are all big standouts. The syncopation in the bassline during “Crush” also stands out to me. “Valley Girl” is another track where the tone of the bass really shines. 

But the bass, as awesome as it is, isn’t the only instrument on this. Jonathan’s soloing and bizarre fits of noise atop the bass and drums give these songs so much more character. The songs themselves, (such as “Crush”) are compact and feel more like an outburst of energy over a big sprawling spectacle. There’s all sorts of cool guitar sounds, such as the tremolo picking part in “Tremors”, The soft, bright lingering chords that ring out during the EP’s intro “Fake Out” the sharp, and shrill slides at the beginning of “tremors” the chorused bass at the beginning of “Valley Girl” and the signature slam of barre chords that permeates most tracks. 

The drums bounce and pound and bite, maintaining a steady pace for the guitar and bass to ride off of. The sound of the crash and the repetitive, punchy snare hits heard on tracks like “Valley Girls” and closer “Hippie Freaks” serve as the foundation and backbone of the sound. 

While one “critique” that could be thrown the EP’s way could be that the songs can feel somewhat formulaic. The pure energy and spirit of the EP more than makes up for any “formulaic” or “sameness” some songs may have. Plus, it’s a short EP so you’re not really gonna care unless you’re reviewing it and listening to it on loop for an hour. (Like I’m doing right now, on listen number 5, I think as I write this.)  there’s this cool palm-muted part where everything quiets down. The band pull off some sweet dynamic shifts, like on “Hippie Freaks”, there’s this cool palm-muted part in that song where everything quiets down. And that track really shows that these songs are ultimately more than just “outbursts of energy” like I said earlier. 

While the lyrics aren’t entirely intelligible, the vocals on this EP are full of energy just like the rest of the instrumentation. And the falsetto melody throughout “Hippie Freaks” help the track stand out. Especially as it transitions into that muted, quieter build towards the end. This build culminates in the final chorus of the EP where right as the drums join back in, a harrowing scream is let out as the guitar and bass go around one more time before halting on a chord and fading out. 

The sound of the ep is very raw and lo-fi, you can really feel and hear it when listening to the drums and the vocals. This is only natural for a small band like this but it’s also very fitting for the band’s sound itself. Full of indie punk spirit and deeply indebted to bands like the Frights. It’s noisy, it’s surfy, it’s good fun.  Definitely go give it a listen.