JAM THE TRACKS WHILE YOU READ
"GREAT ADD YOU SAUCY MINX" - BEN
THE CRITICALS
FRONT DOOR CONFESSIONS
August 27th, 2023
I often feel, musically, we’re in an EP era. And Nashville duo, The Criticals, certainly promote this belief because, by golly, they are back with their third EP, Front Door Confrontation. And it's a doozy. Their most fully realized collection to date, they’ve leaned into that 70s fueled Strokes-esque power pop and further pushed melody to the forefront. 16 minutes of catchy rock, vocal hooks, punchy drums, and badass bass lines. This is an EP of fun, fervor, and fever. It’s for summer. It’s for cars out, windows down, hands up.
You’ve got six songs to choose from. Each time I listen I pick a new favorite. Which is indicative of just how damn good Parker Forbes and Cole Shugart are at penning tunes. Often in this EP epoch we get two or three tracks worth their salt accompanied by a couple experimental doodles and interludes to round things out. There is absolutely no filler here. Opening track “All The Way” is a real rocker that contains elements of everything you’re about to experience. In that microsecond before the music kicks in, on a bed of tambourine, in the left channel only, someone shouts (although I could be mishearing): “I got whiskey!” And, boom, you’re off for a really good time.
On “Belmont” Parker Forbes’ vocal famiarity solidifies into an aha moment and I realize its genesis: Elijah Hewson of Inhaler. “Call The Cliché” has a disco-click “Semi-Charmed Life” kinda vibe, but the full charm arrives with the video single “Clever Girl”, a bass fronted beat that puts the bounce in the body. The Criticals are like creosote, putting out proper music that will be preserved. And, as sung on “Burn With Me”: “[that] Tahoe with the monster truck wheels / Spinning round your head”, these tunes will keep spinning within your head.
- TRENT RYAN SMITH