EP Review: Eddie Angel's 'Clear as Crystal'
By Benjamin Allen Dickson
This EP is very hard to describe, it seems to be going for the “best of both worlds” mentality, specifically when having only two tracks on said EP, and both of them sounding like they are from completely different bands. I don’t fault this either, I don’t think of that as a negative quality at all, there are many bands that I love that constantly change their sound. Eddie Angel truly brings two very distinct sounds together with this new EP, the first being “Do What You Feel”, and the second called “So Bad”.
The first track, and the first half of the EP, “Do What You Feel” has a shimmering 90’s feeling to it. The chorus is the absolute highlight of the song, which has these roaring Smashing Pumpkins-like guitar riffs that I found really fun and enjoyable. The bass is plucky and prominent, which as a bass player myself really caught my interest. The drums on this mix sound very satisfying for the entire track, as well. The dreamy vocals and their pop melodies work well for this track, although the lead vocals don’t really stand out as a strong memorable voice. My only real complaint with this track is that it’s fade out ending seems sort of awkward, as it seems to be building towards nothing. Since the instrumentation is so solid and in sync on this song, I would’ve loved to hear the track breathe a little bit more. Killer track though, loved a lot of what was going on in it.
The second track, and the latter half of the EP, “So Bad” is a more suburban blues type sound. It starts off with these very wavy/surfy chords accompanied by that plucky bass I really enjoyed so much in the first track, then the track turns into this very Weezer inspired post-grunge sound. It is a little shocking going from the first track to this one, it is a drastic sonic change, and although I am not particularly in love with this track, I did appreciate the production in this track especially, every layer is very clear and concise. I have no idea if this was recorded in a professional studio or at a home studio, but either way I think the mixing on this track (and “Do What You Feel”) is really great. The bass on this song has a nice groove towards the end that is really complemented by the punchy snare and the great drum performance given. Another thing this song has going for it is its very accessible sound, so I think this song would be great for playing in a car with people you don’t know very well or just if you want a more crowd pleasing song, which absolutely has its place and good use.
Overall, I would say this new EP from Eddie Angel is worth a listen. It has an accessible mainstream throwback rock sound I especially would recommend to fans of Weezer and Silversun Pickups. Just these two tracks though seem to not be enough to fully encapsulate the entirety/diversity of the project altogether, so maybe a third track would have made it feel more cohesive and essentially “completed” the EP. Neither of these tracks are reinventing the wheel or anything sonically, which I don’t believe was Eddie’s intention, but what he (and his band) did provide here were two very well put together rock tunes. From these two tracks that I heard, I am excited to see what Eddie Angel does in the future!