Dark / Gold

LOCAL! Fuzzed out, ragged, catchy rock ’n’ roll. SOAR are an Oakland quartet whose members have played in various punk and indie-pop bands all over the Bay and beyond (Joyride, Watercolor Paintings, Void Boys, Dreamspoiler). Their first full-length has strong garage-pop and 90’s slacker rock leanings, but not in an anarchic or spastic Burger Records style; this is more measured and earnest. There’s a crunchy undertow to the guitars that complements the sunny vocal harmonies nicely. Introspective but direct and heavy pop. Fans of Candace (Is/Is), Chastity Belt, Shannon & the Clams, Dinosaur Jr., and Built to Spill will find resonances here. Favorites: 4, 5, 6, 7. No FCCs detected.

1. (3:57)—Medium-fast. Brooding bass leads into a sunny, melodic cruiser. Easygoing breakdown.
2. (2:15)—Mid-tempo. Bouncy, slightly snarky, with nice interweaving harmony lines.
3. (2:20)—Mid-tempo, stutter step beat, low end crunch. “I’m tired of feeling like I didn’t do something right.”
4. *(3:34)—Mid-tempo. Jangly intro. Gradually picks up speed and begins to approach shoegaze territory.
5. *(4:21)—Slow, heavy. Spacious intro. Great feedback swells and gnarly low end.
6. *(4:08)—Slow. Threatens to go doom metal, then slides into scorching head-nodding rock with some post-punk moments.
7. *(4:24)—Mid-tempo. Restrained, airy, wistful. Great 60’s harmonies.
8. (2:45)—Medium-fast, pop-punk song about a dead friend.
9. (3:25)—Medium-slow two-chord stomp. Long feedback fakeout outro before a woozy mini-song.
10. (4:15)—Mid-tempo, dark. The chorus kind of has a 70s rock feel, but it’s also delivered in an understated, ominous way.