college rock group statehouse sings through anxiety in debut ep 'you know i should be leaving soon'
By Grace Niemiec
The members of the college rock group Statehouse are making a name for themselves through their introspective yet catchy tracks. The best way to summarize the group is with their own elevator pitch: “College rock for kids that have anxiety and still want to get their work done.” It’s a fun little rundown, but it stays consistent with the smart yet fun themes of Statehouse’s debut EP You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon.
In this new project, the trio of college students that make up Statehouse mix the joy of young adulthood with the anxiety and confusion that comes with it. Starting with the track “Moving it Slow," vocalist and bassist Wyatt Moran takes the lead with moody lyrics reflecting the growing pains of transitioning into maturity (“You’re not sixteen anymore”). The dread of these lyrics contrasts with the somewhat celebratory guitar and drum line from members Gia Flores and Ben Gurnon, respectively. This structure continues into the following tracks, “Set in Stone” and “Belief," in which guitarist Flores takes on lead vocals. Again, the lyrics reflect some sort of anxiety within the group’s lives, this time more specifically relating to the struggle of finding someone who relates to said anxiety (backed by a genuinely fun melody, of course).
Later in the EP, Moran drives the group once more, singing lead on the track, “Dying," in which he details his fear of the transition into death. At this point, it’s abundantly clear that the members of Statehouse are following a central theme throughout the project — that theme being time. Moran avoids it by ‘moving slow’ in “Moving it Slow." Flores feels as though her time is wasting away in “Set in Stone” as she sings, “My days are feeling shorter one by one." And, of course, in “Dying,” Moran dreads the inevitable point at which time will take over; it won’t matter if he ‘moved slow.' These deep, dark feelings paired with the joyful instrumental lines make for the musical equivalent of dancing through an existential crisis. It’s something this generation can get behind.
As the project fades out with “Hold Me” and its subsequent, more calm reprise, the listener is able to sit back and reflect on the EP as a whole. It’s a moody project that bears all for the audience. But despite this open expression of emotion, the group maintains an atmosphere unique to that of an energetic live show. It’s a project that is well-worth testing out and a very promising debut EP.