Hear Forth Wanderers’ take on the ambivalence of love in “Not for Me,” from their forthcoming self-titled, Sub Pop debut
YouTube: http://bit.ly/2C5nNWs
Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2BidAsQ
Apple Music: https://apple.co/2C56NiZ
Forth Wanderers available April 27th worldwide on Sub Pop
Sub Pop has signed Montclair, New Jersey’s Forth Wanderers, and will release the group’s second full-length effort and label debut, worldwide on April 27th, 2018. The self-titled album features the standouts “Not for Me” [listen here], “Nevermine” and “Ages Ago,” and was produced and recorded by Cameron Konner in Philadelphia over 5 days in the summer of 2017.
Forth Wanderers will be available on CD/LP/CS/DL through Sub Pop via Rhythmethod in NZ.
Forth Wanderers employ a tin-can-telephone style of composition which they use even when living in the same area code. Since first collaborating in 2013 as high schoolers, guitarist and songwriter Ben Guterl and vocalist Ava Trilling have passed songs back and forth like pen pals. Guterl will devise an instrumental skeleton before sending it to vocalist Ava Trilling who pens the lyrics based off the melody. The duo then gather alongside guitarist Duke Greene, bassist Noah Schifrin, and drummer Zach Lorelli to expand upon the demo. It’s a patient and practiced writing system that has carried the quintet through two EPs (2013’s Mahogany on Seagreen Records and 2016’s Slop on Father/Daughter Records) and one LP (2014’s self-released Tough Love). Forth Wanderers, the group’s sophomore record and Sub Pop debut, is the groups’ most comprehensive and assured statement yet.
Now living in Ohio and New York respectively, Guterl and Trilling have evolved their separate but collaborative writing process. “The only way I can really write is by myself in my room with a notebook, listening to the song over and over again,” Trilling says. “I’ve never sat down to write a story, I write the song as it unfolds.” Since her lyrics are often embedded with intimate truths from her life, the private writing experience often leads to intense self-reflection.
On Forth Wanderers these introspections include meditations on relationships, discovery, and finding oneself adrift. Despite the inherent heaviness of those themes, Forth Wanderers feels joyous, a rock record bursting with heart. Take “Not for Me,” a romping track about “the ambivalence of love.” Trilling’s confession of “I can’t feel the earth beneath my feet/Flowers bloom but not for me” resists feeling like a dreary, pitying complaint; instead, as her bandmates bolster her melancholy with interlocking harmonic intricacies, she soars with self-actualization. Opener “Nevermine,” is a surge of confidence inspired by an ex-lover who is still captivated by her image. I don’t think I know who you are anymore/ and I don’t think I knew I was before” she jabs with relish. On “Ages Ago” Trilling paints the image of a constantly-shifting enigmatic lover. “I wasn’t sure who they were, they changed constantly (hence the metaphor describing the “grey coat” and cutting their hair just to “stay afloat”),” she says. “I wasn’t going to wait any longer to find out.”
Recorded over five days by friend and audio engineer Cameron Konner at his Philadelphia home studio, Forth Wanderers amplifies the heartfelt sentiments of the band’s earlier works into massive anthems. Guterl and Greene’s guitars have never sounded so sharp, Schifrin and Lorelli’s terse rhythm section is restless, and Trilling seems more self-assured than ever. “We have embraced our roles in the collaboration process,” says Guterl. “Everyone’s gotten better at their instruments and we trust each other more because we know how the machine works.” This spirit soars through Forth Wanderers, resulting in exuberant, profound songs driven by tightly bound melodies and a loving attention to detail.
What people have said about Forth Wanderers
“Crisp melodies and gorgeous lyricism.” [“Slop”] – The FADER
Forth Wanderers, a band from Montclair, N.J., is a shining slacker-rock beacon in its particular DIY scene… In “Nerves,” Ava Trilling’s ennui-plagued alto nails the sudden realization that you’re wasting your time with someone who probably doesn’t care about you. As Trilling sings, [Ben] Guterl’s guitar is practically aching; it moves in arcs over her voice and perfectly captures a feeling of longing. This is a song about being, for lack of a better expression, so bummed out.
As the song proceeds, Forth Wanderers evokes a constant cycle of ups and downs, dots you can almost pinpoint on a map: malls that signaled the ends to first relationships, hanging out in a fast-food restaurant after prom, countless hours spent in parks. The punk-rock call of the suburbs in “Nerves” ties all these moments together; the song’s title highlights how anxiety-producing that can be. [“Nerves”] – NPR Music
Appropriately, “Slop” itself is slow, poignant, and deceptively complex. Overcast guitar lines weave around one another with the plodding intricacy of Bedhead’s most winding works. The spiraling instrumental never coalesces into any real forward momentum. It just sinks and swirls, but that makes sense as Trilling sings things like “I can’t think straight.” It’s the soundtrack for those times in your life where you’re feeling everything all of the time—the muddled headspaces and quiet confusion when you’re figuring out how to exist in the big ol’ world. [“Slop”] – Pitchfork
“The four songs on it are a great summation of what makes the New Jersey band’s anxious rock music so appealing.” [Slop EP] – Stereogum
Forth Wanderers
Tracklisting
- Nevermine
- Company
- Ages Ago
- Taste
- Not for Me
- Be My Baby
- New Face
- Saunter
- Tired Games
- Temporary
Socials
Forth Wanderers on Spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/6neDO0NxuMzwuCk0WYm21E
Forth Wanderers on Apple Music https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/album/forth-wanderers/1337397253?ls=1&app=itunes
Forth Wanderers on Bandcamp https://forthwanderers.bandcamp.com/
Forth Wanderers on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/forthwanderers/
Forth Wanderers on Twitter https://twitter.com/forth_wanderers
Forth Wanderers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/forthwanderers
