by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be crushed by a giant banana? Well… listening to the careening sludge pop of Boston’s own Banana might be the closest we all come to that (barring any potential genetically mutated bananas) and their latest EP, Post-Grunge Revival is delightfully heavy. The trio’s first release since 2017’s Die Alone Pt. 2 is a big step forward sonically, an enormous and primal EP full of buzzing riffs and left-field shifts. Chelsea Ursin's songs come to life with an added heaviness, digging into monstrous riffs with a quirky charm on songs about cow’s giving birth, graceful weirdness, and beyond. While their previous releases were certainly great in their own right, the band’s King Pizza Records (Francie Moon, The Mad Doctors, Zip-Tie Handcruffs) debut feels like the record they’ve been working toward.
Following the intriguingly noisy “Intro” (which can be heard at the above pre-order link), “Tiny Bones” is the album’s first official single, a song that begins with a sweet yet sinister vocal melody and a dirge-y bassline that would feel at home on In Utero. The guitars enter in with fractured cuts, as Urchin’s voice does much of the dynamic gymnastics, weaving between highs and lows with an impeccable control before everything erupts at the chorus. There’s a lot of character in Urchin’s voice, from inflections to enunciations (the exaggerated repetition of phrases at 1:04 reminds me of the Toadies in the absolute best of ways), contorting the same words with added emphasis. The band wriggle back in forth with colliding drums and big distorted riffs, shifting into an extended bridge that allows them to stretch out, to seek and destroy. They make the most of it to be sure, permeating the fills with feedback and the quick addition of a snaking melody just as the song roars to a close.