Erase Theory - ‘The Good Kind’ review
Erase Theory
Erase Theory emerges as the latest musical endeavour of a very explorative West-Coast scene. Following Jeff Sahyoun’s hiatus from the music scene, the group are now pumping out their second EP this year with sophomore effort The Good Kind. Here’s what we thought:
The EP opens with 'Taking a Beat,' featuring a foreboding opening that got things off to a curious start back in July. The poppy vocals are unique, reminiscent of a blend between Justin Timberlake and "Transformers era" of Linkin Park. Shy of 5 minutes, it’s a longer track. This feels like the start of an emotional flow considering Sahyoun’s six years of soul-searching post-letlive. The depth of this as an opener is the start of an exploration into the band's range.
'Man Overboard' takes a slower turn, falling into that sort of ‘movie soundtrack’ type of song. It’s very expositional and evocative, complete with a pretty artsy music video. Again it mentally drew favourable comparisons to the late Chester Bennington's vocal style. The idea of this track live is intriguing. It wouldn't be surprising if it emerges as a key single in the band's future.
'So They Say,' is the track that propels the release forward. This song stands out as a high point of passion on the songwriting front, offering more emotional depth beyond the previous tracks. The key lyric, "You've gotta have a couple fucked days," may lack eloquence, but it highlights the imperfections in someone’s journey. Where ‘Man Overboard’ leans on an emotional sound, this actually portrays a lot of emotional content. It’s a great example of the EP drawing from a few different wells. They did right by keeping this one off singles as a surprise for the EP.
‘The Subtitled’ is the most exciting change in the tempo of The Good Kind. This drops in with a lot more “oomf” than anything else on the EP. A lot more on the punk side of the band’s sound helps it stand out a lot more with some tight drumming and very catchy guitar work. Anyone looking for Erase Theory to show off more of the underlying punk ethos in their music, this is their song.
Finally is ‘The Good Kind’, which dropped as a single in late October. The title track brings us full circle, as it has a combination of everything in the previous 4 songs on The Good Kind. Erase Theory saved their heaviest and most experimental stuff for the last two tracks and it ends things very strongly. It feels like a real outpouring for Sahyoun. It feels like an authentic struggle, which is what stays with you as the EP ends. This is a very good sign for Erase Theory’s sound if they continue in this direction.
The EP overall shows growth, culminating in a dynamic collection that clocks in at less than 20 minutes. After the split of letlive. Jeff Sahyoun was said to have been left asking “Who am I?”. Those expecting a release similar to letlive. won’t really find that here. Rather, you will find a personally insightful EP achieving a lot in just 5 songs. With the backlog of 30+ songs Jeff Sahyoun has boasted having, this feels like one of many more releases we can expect from Erase Theory as we go into 2024. With the range they’ve shown thus far, they could go in almost any direction.