(drums, samples, background vocals).

 

“Say Something New” opens with something that I cannot describe as anything other than sass written into music. Comparable to Diamond Youth’s “Cannonball,” this song is one that I would stomp through a crowd with my head held high to; not often does a song make me feel as confident as this one does. In truth, I’m not a huge fan of the bridge because the beginning of the vocal melody seems out of place and slightly deeper than the rest of the song. Halfway into the song, the instrumental solo is fairly predictable, but the guitar parts that follow shortly after provide the pleasant change that the first instrumental solo didn’t bring. The last verse is either my favorite or second favorite part of the song; I didn’t predict the change in instrumental rhythm or the presentation of what seems to be a small portion of Tucker’s vocal range.

 

“Creatures” immediately makes me think of the music accompanying end credits to a movie. With the introduction of Tucker’s vocals, this sounds not unlike something that would make the Top 40 charts; the instrumentals cross Muse with The Black Keys. This song is nearly as upbeat as “Say Something New,” but it seems more repetitive. I enjoy the vocal melodies, but there were no real surprises in this song aside from the addition of (clearly present) samples. I like what they attempted to do here, but I would have changed the progression of the song to something that I less expected.

 

Next, Soapbox Army covered David Bowie’s “Dead Man Walking.” Having listened to this cover before listening to the original, the cover sounds like something that The Format would write with The Postal Service. The cover is well done, but I wouldn’t have put it on a four-song EP (especially as the second longest track). If I were to choose a band for Soapbox Army to cover, I wouldn’t have picked Bowie. However, it was great that the awesome execution was unexpected. They handled Bowie well and their instrumental was well-arranged.

 

“Brick Moon” is the best representation of Tucker’s vocal range. Despite the fact that this track does not impress me as much as the opening track did, it successfully showcases Tucker’s mastery of his lower vocal range as well as his grip on his falsetto; the tempo is noticeably slower than those of the other songs and I appreciate the variation. This song was a good choice for a closing thought, but I would have tried to complicate the chord progression more. The boys did well for a three-piece band, however, and they write well for having as many musicians as they do.

 

Soapbox Army is currently promoting Maps by performing shows around New York. Check them out if you get the opportunity!