The Great Explainer - The Way Things Swell

The Great Explainer
The Way Things Swell
Chunksaah Records
B+





Only four songs in length and produced by The Bouncing Souls’ Pete Steinkopf, The Way Things Swell is a doozy of an EP by punk rockers The Great Explainer. Anchored by ridiculously infectious melodies and raspy, yet demanding vocals, The Way Things Swell is a by-the-book reflection of bands like Hot Water Music and Small Brown Bike while keeping true to a sense of heightened realization in terms of how mature their sound already is when compared to the bands they are emulating throughout these four songs. This EP is a strong start with enough promise to almost guarantee this band has great things in their future.

Where many new bands, regardless of genre, seem to do their utmost to cater to the staples of their own genres in terms of structures and arrangements, The Great Explainer proves an ample ability to cater to a particular genre’s crowd without forcing things into place. This leaves us with plenty of smooth songwriting without losing the things that make punk rock of this nature great - huge sounds and great singalongs. “Quotas” features flowing fretwork underneath pleading vocals and a wall of sound created by the rest of the quartet, giving us plenty to fill our heads with even if the vocals are at a rest. The infectious buzzing during “I Finally Found My Dreamboat” makes a great foundation for the whirling melodies and driving drums, making it nearly impossible not to tap or toe or bob your head. Even the slower starting “Michael Jordan 666” doesn’t waiver in its use of melodies in the guitar tracks, as a solid, yet strong drum part helps drive this track forward.

The ying and yang effect of raspy and clean vocals between guitarists/vocalists Sean Bystrzycki and Matt Vaneekhoven creates a huge dynamic that will help distance this band from anyone else trying to drop themselves into the punk rock circuit. As “Quotas” shows us, Bystrzycki and Vaneekhoven can coexist on any passage this band can pen. And each sets the bar at an even level, eliminating the pesky problem of one vocalist in a set out-singing the other and leaving a weakness in the chain. You can really appreciate the balance of vocals between the two, as only having one of these vocalists in the mix would certainly cause a change in how this sound is carried out.

The Great Explainer certainly has a great start to their career with this release. It is hard to fathom that they have only this release under their belts, but believe me when I say I really think this band will be going upwards in the near future.