And So On… is the debut EP from inwake, a four-member group from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Band members Mike (guitar), Russ (guitar), Ian (bass/keyboards), and Tim (drums) draw from groove and post-rock influences in their writing and performance. You’ll note that none of the band members have a vocal credit listed above--all seven tracks are instrumentals. A few of the tracks are musically connected (e.g. “Buddy” to “Spook”), giving a nice, coherent listening experience. The band stays away from odd meters and unusual modes; inwake’s sound is more indie and grunge (albeit with less distortion) than Dream Theater. The choices that inwake has made--no lyrics, no vocals, standard instrumentation, and straightforward time-signatures and scales--increase their challenge: can they do enough to make a full album interesting? The answer, fortunately, is yes. Starting from the opener “Brighton,” the band displays nice ensemble playing and highlights interesting melodies throughout. Ian’s bass is put to good use and his keyboards are sprinkled around to give it all a little extra zip. “Buddy” shows some nice flair. The band starts off a little downtempo and introduces a few color tones (but nothing too crazy). Tim keeps the band locked in as they switch to a faster, funk groove; be sure to check out his fast-fast-fast stick work! Showing some writing skill, the band carries over some of the color tones used earlier to keep the composition coherent. They finish with a section that reminded me of Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond.” inwake digs into their bag of tricks on “Firsnow” where they explore some light dissonance--the guitars sound almost (intentionally) out-of-tune. It’s a neat effect, especially when combined with the panning in the mix. “Berlin” features some nice call-and-response between the keyboards and the guitars, and could be the outro music to a Netflix show. And So On… is a fine debut. inwake does a nice job exploring the space they’ve selected for themselves and keeping the musical texture interesting throughout the EP. Give them a spin!
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