Casey Bolles – “Freshman” [EP] [Album Review]

Armed with an acoustic guitar and carrier bag full of frustration, Casey Bolles is a solo artist from Buffalo, New York who, from the aggressive delivery of the material on this EP, has certainly found himself a vehicle through which to channel that anger. Raw and punkish in attitude and delivery, Freshman broods and bubbles away as Bolles recites his dark poetry through gritted teeth occasionally exploding into a furious, angrier outburst.

In fact, each track is almost schizophrenic as Bolles switches from soothing, finger-picked passages to a more aggressive strumming style to match the level of seething rage in his vocals. Each track builds up from a melodic, calming start before, out of nowhere, Bolles snaps and, thrashing the life out of his guitar, snarls “because I’m so fucking tired of waking up tired with that throbbing pain in my head” on “Brain Sweater”.

Make no mistake, for all the folky influences and nice soothing acoustic passages, Freshman is a fucking dark collection of songs from a man who, should he manage to channel that aggression, has the talent to produce something that could be really special indeed.

Track Listing:

01. Potential
02. Brain Sweater
03. Inside Voices
04. Tattoo
05. Cowboy Killers
06. Sweating (As An Activity)
07. The Things I Learned In School

Run Time: 21:50
Release Date: June 9, 2015

Check out the song “Potential” here.