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.

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