Schooner – “Neighborhood Veins” Review
“An auditory sun shower”
The latest release by the Tar Heel rockers, led by vocalist Reid Johnson, is a dreamy dozen of indie noise-pop soldered together with compassion and a cunning sense of self.
▼ Article continues below ▼Tickled with reverb, noise collages and meandering bass grooves, the album’s cozy melodies and hearty vocals are both bighearted and nostalgic. Neighborhood Veins is about owning the melancholy: wearing self-doubt like your favorite t-shirt while looking for new love with someone kind, cool and who’s got a battered heart to talk about. Whether in looming, heavy waltzes like “Floodlights and Ghosts” and “Nowhere to Wait” or upbeat sing-a-longs like “It Won’t Matter,” the band tactfully balances the morose with the merry.
The LP’s closer and title track is a Jackson Pollock of a song. The left field noise collage strolls on for nearly 12 minutes, randomly flinging about eerie horns, oddball chords, Morse code blips, and something that sounds like a bumblebee having a seizure. The monolith of sound serves the perfect terminus to a perfect indie daydream.
Schooner
Neighborhood Veins
Durham, NC
(PotLuck Records)
Recorded at Arbor Ridge Studios
Mastered by Nick Petersen
schooner.bandcamp.com
