I came across Quaker Wedding while
scrolling through Bandcamp obsessively, as I am wont to do. Their debut 7” had
the single “Jilted Lover” and a
b-side called “Where You Used To Live”,
and right from the get-go, I was hooked. Since quarantine/lockdown/social
distancing/shelter in place/whatever you want to call it, my time spent in my
car has been cut drastically, but I found that those two songs were just long
enough to get me to the “far” end of my small town, and after getting back in
my car, I’d play those two songs again.
Since COVID-19 was delaying shipping, I was
stoked when Marco from Salinas Records emailed me in May to say that the 7” it
was finally being sent. When I told him how obsessed I had been with the songs (and
that I was looking forward to reviewing the full length for CPRW), he was kind
enough to send me an advanced download, and it did not disappoint. Since the
record “officially” dropped on June 19th (just in time for another
great bandcamp Friday, where they sent their shares of sales to the NAACP Legal
Defense Fund), it’s now available to all to enjoy.
In
Transit starts off with “Sinking Ship”, and after the sound of what might be a subway or
train hissing to a stop and a few distorted power chords, the listener is
treated to a gravelly howl that makes me think of Trever Keith (of Face To Face)
at the end of a long tour. In both the opener and the second track, “Dark Thoughts II”, Quaker Wedding
addresses themes of not being “built for this life” and wonders if they’ll
“ever call this place my home”. While “Sinking Ship” rages with anger, “Dark
Thoughts II” is a bit more introspective and… eh, not hopeful, but at least
willing to deal with life’s problems.
The third track is the lead single, the
aforementioned “Jilted Lover”, which
after many, many repeat listens, is still my favorite on the album. I get a
real Jawbreaker vibe from the lyrics, which are equal parts self-loathing and
remorseful. The first verse shows our protagonist literally counting the days
that he was with his ex (and finding out that it was half his life), and then
adding “I did the math / On little scraps
of paper / It seemed important / So I checked it twice.” The chorus
explains his dilemma: “I act like a
jilted lover / Even though I’m the one who left / I go on and on about you
anytime / Anytime somebody says your name.”
While a tight ten songs that clock in at 33
minutes, In Transit touches many of
the hallmarks of Midwest-punk (even mentioning in “Aching” that “I’ve become a
Midwest lyric”), from the slowish punk/emo-burners “Wrecking Ball” and “Vermont”,
to the more fast paced “Sleep” and “Knowing Smile” that remind me a little
of Nothington.
Quaker Wedding end with the somber “On An Island”, which *checks
calculator* accounts for a fifth of the runtime on the album. After starting
out their record with wondering where they belong, they end by saying “We work our whole lives trying to forget /
We spend our whole lives living in transit”. And isn’t that really it?
There is no “happily ever after” here, the days keep coming, and some of them
are rad, and some of them suck. But we keep moving – sometimes because we’re
motivated to do so, and other times because, well, what other choice do we
have?
All in all (and I don’t want to hype it up too much), this is my favorite record of
the year so far, and it’s not particularly close. From the first listen, it
just fit my ears like a glove (if you wore gloves on your
ears), and I can’t wait for the vinyl to arrive so I can wear it out.
RIYL: Jawbreaker, Face To Face, Nothington,
Big Nothing, Distants, feeling miserable and/or awesome.
Stream and download In Transit on Bandcamp here.
This review was written by Marcus Pond.
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