by John Brouk
Strum is the new EP from St. Louis, Missouri’s Picture That, moniker of twins Shawn and Allison Durham. The record’s stripped back moments contrast nicely with the lush and cheery amalgamation of guitars of other tracks, showing the dynamic range of the songs and the band’s ability to effectively build kinetic energy before crashing into a dense fog. There’s a lot of territory covered in the record’s thirteen minute runtime.
Strum begins with the eerie, cavernous guitar notes and rhythmic, muted riff of “Undercover Letters”. The addition of sobering lead vocals, steady drumming, and an angular guitar arpeggio make this track feel like a spaghetti western suspense thriller, nervously piling up tension as we await the arrival of an unknown entity. The anxious build-up is released with “Try,” a beautifully lush and upbeat indie rocker. Underpinned by an energetic and locked in drum beat, a warm swell of shoegazy electric guitars wash over everything before partially subsiding to reveal a sweet and melodic verse accented by sustained vocal phrasing. The apex of the song is a playful and endearing phrase that affirms the pleasant feeling of being with someone who sparks your curiosity and wonderment in life and what it has to offer.
“Infinity” keeps some of the energy of the preceding track while marrying it to more of the minimalist tonalities of the first, with a bouncy open chord progression that ducks underneath an “anti-solo” guitar solo before reemerging for a repeating refrain that sees the song through its brief but impactful duration. We then return to sparser territory on “Time Away,” with a big echoey snare drum, a slinky back-and-forth bassline, and a mesmerizing pattern of stringy guitars and hushed vocals that eventually meet and sync up towards the latter half. This song appropriately feels like watching the swaying pendulum of a grandfather clock or a metronome. It all contrasts beautifully with another terrifically catchy alt-rock head-bobbing bop “Calling a Liar”. More coveted guitar tones intertwine and twist while a tambourine adds percussive texture and guitar leads interplay creatively with the vocals. The sixth and final track of Picture That’s debut offers us another optimistic post-punk dirge with power chords that crunch and punch before we are treated to one last tangled ball of spacey guitar notes.