And I Was Like, What?

We Have Nothing EP

Written by: TL on 13/01/2011 18:16:21

Some times as a reviewer, you get bands or records the names of which you can't but shake your head and acknowledge as awesome, even if they're also quite silly. One such band is And I Was Like, What?, a quintet from Portland, US, whose EP "We Have Nothing" I just had to sign up for when I saw the band's weird name.

A quote on the band's own Last.fm page suggests that the name could be the likely reaction from first time listeners, and I agree with that, because one of the chief things that they have going for them, is that they don't sound like very many other bands at all. The only semi-known one I can think of is Dear And The Headlights, and that's not all that accurate, and then all I have to resort to is a very small (but good!) band called Caravela, that I'm sure none of you have ever heard about (I've been wanting to review them, but haven't found the time yet).

So instead of namedropping, I guess I could say that these guys (and one girl) have crafted a sound that is one part mathy indie due to the notes from their singer/guitarist's electric guitar, and one part dramatic folk due to some moody contributions from an acoustic guitar and a violin. All together, things are kept delightfully laid back, regardless of the content, and it creates a nice dynamic, like in EP highlight "F#", where the singer Shawn sings "why do I waste my precious time with complicated feelings?" in a voice that sounds a bit like he has all the time in the world.

The bad news however, is that this chorus is the only strikingly memorable one on the EP, and the remaining tracks never ascend from the level of "enjoyable background music". It's not such a big deal however, because if I'm not mistaken, this is the band's first outing, and what everyone should take away from it, is a note on the cool sound it presents. Given time to develop their songwriting skills, I think AIWLW will make it worth our while to remember them in the future.

7

Download: F#
For The Fans Of: Caravela, Dear And The Headlights,
Listen: myspace.com/andiwaslikewhatyeah

Release Date 21.11.2010
**Self-Released**

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