by Pat Pilch (@apg_gomets)
Credit’s music is unplanned magic; it’s nebulous and nonconforming. The Baltimore collective’s melodic hardcore roots surfaced on their 2023 debut, but The Last Few Years signals a breakthrough in style, collaboration, and mindset. As the “new classic quintet,” the latest iteration of Credit delivers these songs from deep within a flow state, as if they were written instinctively. With released inhibitions, the project’s mercurial approach to improvisation obscures genre and influence across four brilliant pieces of lucidity.
“Live, and it always will be ?” reads Credit’s Bandcamp liners. The tagline is more a statement than an inquiry, as if the space and question mark imply, “isn’t it always live?” For Credit, living is the truth, and the songs on The Last Few Years are certainly alive. In fact, opener “Britt” has been kicking around since the late 2000s, with additional parts being added by The Keyboard Player since 2012. The track’s slow burn psychedelia hits like the sun coming out from behind a cloud before scorching through the fog upon its conclusion. It’s Credit’s most straightforward statement preceding the EP’s curious, thrilling remainder.
The Last Few Years excels in its unexpected shifts, compositional freedom, and unlikely stylistic fusions. Credit chop mega-slack jazz with harsh no wave on “Exercise #2,” and splice frantic noise rock with pace-making soul on “Anywhere.” These opposing forces nearly feel like subconscious decisions, natural and wonderful turns of phrase exhibiting Credit’s unmatched ability to make shit work.
Credit’s enigmatic presence conflates truth and mystery. Who knows how these songs sound live? Who knows how these sounds make songs? Nothing plays the same twice unless you hit record and rewind, but Credit makes The Last Few Years sound different every time.