Eternal Summers – Gouge
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Raise your hand if within the past three months, you’ve said something along the lines of: “Ugh! When is this winter going to end?!?” Eternal Summers’ new record says, “Sooner than you think!” The Drop Beneath is the Roanoke rock band’s third full-length and sounds much like the sweaty, sweet season from which the band’s name is derived. Adding a bassist to the mix, the duo now turned trio named their album after the plunge they took in exploring sonic terrain just beneath their comfort zone, and in doing so, have created a bolder-bodied work.
Kicking things off is “100”, in which Nicole Yun, band’s singer and primary songwriter, sings about never having to prove yourself — and the stage is set. Immediately after, the chorus of “A Burial” proves a melodic feat and ends with the words “answer to no one.” Anthemic and poignant rouser, “Gouge”, is followed by the grunge rock ballad “Keep Me Away”. Popcorn bouncing returns with “Never Enough”, a song spawned from Yun’s frustration with the back-and-forth difficulties of the writing process. “Not for This One” is a high point of the record, with excellent chill-pacing and mega cool vocals. The other high point would have to be when all the guitars take a step back and push Yun’s voice to the front line in “Until the Day I Have Won”. Her range is stunning and entirely deserving of the attention it receives here as it dips and soars. The final song is the title track which greets us with an appropriate wall of distortion, a few meaningful lines and a slow-fading, fuzzy decrescendo glow.
It’s a little bit punk rock, a little bit dream pop, a little bit shoegaze, a little bit grunge. Who cares, really. The whole thing is really dreamy and progressive, and marks the first time the band has recruited the help of an outside producer, Doug Gillard (Guided by Voices, Nada Surf), who brought some gloss to their grit and full-bodied new sound. Colorful and warm, The Drop Beneath sounds cared for in its attention to detail and specific textures.
In a time when indie music is greatly dominated by sleek electronics, Eternal Summers drop beneath the radar and stay true to the music that they encountered and embraced while exploring what were formerly unfamiliar sonic spaces. Eternal Summers have always been kick ass, and now they also sound like a band who knows who they are — and that’s a potent pairing. The Drop Beneath is deep, wide, dense, and I daresay, a drop above their previous records.
