By Bryan Menegus
Someone once said that the best things in life are free. Now at the time, that statement might not have been entirely accurate, but with the influx of bands like Monument, Bomb the Music Industry and now Snowing releasing music online at no cost to the listener, that statement couldn’t be more true.
Snowing was born out of the ashes of Street Smart Cyclist, a band who, despite only releasing six songs during their lifespan, were highly adept at creating the one-way riffs and jubilant atmosphere of their genre’s forefathers Cap’n Jazz.
In that sense, Snowing is less a new band, and more so an extension of Street Smart Cyclist, but if their free five-song EP “Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit” shows nothing else, it’s that they haven’t stagnated.
Their riffs are smarter, the interplay is denser, and as a music-making unit, they sound tighter. At the first listen, ‘tight’ might not be an adjective that readily comes to mind about Snowing, but the band has managed to master a delicate balancing act- every song sounds like it’s on the verge of falling to pieces. Every gorgeous cadence that lasts a little too long, and every sudden tempo change is somehow righted in a wholly organic way. The threat of collapse never comes off as calculated, but concurrently it doesn’t sound sloppy either.
The strongest element of Snowing by far is that they’re just plain fun- brainy, original, noisy fun. Their sound finds beauty through exuberance, like speeding full speed down highways on the nicest day of summer. Nervy drums, innovative guitar, and contrapuntal bass all come flying headlong to create the sort of interplay that one would only expect of Braid. Vocalist Ross Brazuk alternates from unsteady quavers to throaty yells, providing a locus for the instrumentation to sway around, like children who just discovered alcohol. Snowing aren’t just another nameless band in the recent influx of Cap’n Jazz-inspired records. From the spiral staircase riff that opens ‘Sam Rudich’, to the cathartic but abrupt end of ‘Methusela Rookie Card’, this EP shows unbelievable promise, and is undeniably worth absolutely every penny you won’t spend.