by Dakota Winters
Northern California punk/alt-rock trio StrateJacket released their newest drop in music, a self-titled EP! But, before we dive into this punk filled EP, I want to give them a little backstory.
StrateJacket is made up of Jackson Roemers on lead vocals/guitar, Fabian Angel on vocals/bass, and Nate Mangold on drums. The northern California's punk/alt-rock trio formed in 2019 when they quickly found themselves stuck in the middle of a pandemic, clearly stunting the band's career before it even started. But, they didn’t give up that easily. This youthful band of early twenty-somethings used the isolation to hone in on their craft and found their catchy, fast, and energetic sound in merging their individual influences, acts ranging from Arctic Monkeys and Blink-182 were among their favorites, which you can definitely hear in this new record.
Now getting into this exciting new EP!
The first track introduces the story of a song titled “Bad Start,” which should sound familiar to you as it was released as a single first! The song talks about starting on bad terms with life but still having a big heart for what you love no matter the cost or circumstances. The punk-like instrumental going on in this and through the whole EP is so awesome and really has an intricate sound.
Heading over to the next chapter of the EP, “Be My Drug” makes you feel like you're driving down the coast to the beach with friends and sneaking out with your lover on a summer night. This lively song may be a bad influence, but in my opinion, that’s where you have the most fun. The bass following the old feeling of the guitar with the drum fills is pure magic.
The third track titled “Cut The Cord” reaches our somewhat “halfway” mark of the EP, touching lightly on both sides of a breakup, such as doubt or regret, but also a bittersweet feeling of relief and gratitude with looking back at old memories that will ultimately just be memories of the past.
“Living A Lie” is most definitely the opposite, giving that angsty feeling of questioning reality of drowning in life but also relating to others. The verse, “And aren’t we all the same,” really seals that thought of “Living A Lie.”
Wrapping up the whole story of songs, we have “Torch,” concluding everything with saying, “Sometimes you gotta leave to come back home,” basically saying to the future self, "It’s okay."
You're definitely going to enjoy this EP as much as me, and I look forward to what StrateJacket has coming in this near future.
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