Westing – “Rough Year” [EP] [Album Review]

The last year for Westing has been anything but rough. What began as a solo project for Matt Mascarenas has slowly grown into a full band, and this EP is the first release with a full group behind him, with a slew of splits and singles released in the year leading up to this one emerging.

What is immediately clear is that Matt’s vocals are well-suited for the type of 00’s emo-influenced post-hardcore that are its clear influences, but gratefully, the band veers away from obliging this full stop. Instead, they steer the ship into more grungy, early ’90s alternative waters, providing grip and snarl where it counts, especially in the guitar tone on “Calm Down”, a song that asks you to do anything but. This is followed, for the most part of the album, except for closer “I Am Here”, with its faint, charming and sweet strains providing a chilled-out and bittersweet denouement to the EP.

This is a solid EP that, while it fails to drive the intensity of the music being played, it’s also clear that this is far from the intention for the record. There is a more muted, almost understated approach, despite the advantage of having a full band on this recording. And while that may sound slightly underwhelming at first glance to someone who revels in extreme, hideous intensity, the point of the record is to exhibit the lyrics and passion that speak of sadness, of ennui, of dissonance with a world that is so ready to forget them and move on, a familiar sentiment that is easy to rationalize for a band that hails out of Salt Lake City. The result is grimly determined, and hopeful, despite the established pessimism that prevails under the hood.

Rough Year Track Listing:

01. Calm Down
02. Crooked Pictures
03. Subtle Hints
04. I Am Here

Run Time: 11:55
Release Date: November 16, 2016

Check out the EP Rough Year