D.C. based garage rockers, Frass Green, are releasing their new album Buried today with the third leading single, “Any Better”. In contrast to the two previous singles (“35 Years” and “Mural Mosaic”), this is an exercise in expressive balladry that reaches for something better with hands outstretched towards the sky.
From the get-go, we are treated to a sea of strumming guitar with lovely vocal harmonies beaming down like warm sunlight. And, though the song digs into more melancholy lyrics, there is a hopeful optimism that perseveres. “Meekness means hanging on the wall” sings lead vocalist, Joe Antoshak, “it’s the feeling that there’s nowhere you belong”.
As he commiserates with the listener, the band gradually works to shift the downtrodden mindset. “It takes a long time to show” he admits in the chorus. An indicator that, while he doesn’t have all the answers on how to move forward, time and space are key to building momentum in the direction you want, or need, to go. A guitar solo takes the place of a second verse, allowing for a moment of levity and pure feeling to take over. Where language can only get us so far, the calm vibrations and expressiveness of the instruments takes over to calming effect.
“Any Better” and the self-produced 11-song album, Buried are available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and BandCamp. If you’re a fan of Guided By Voices, Parquet Courts, or The Slaps, then Frass Green is right for you. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
