The indie rock outfit known as Roscoe Tripp take a brooding trip through their new single, “When the Stalks Are Low”. Driven by the wild dynamics of the ever-morphing bass, there’s a heaviness that carries through the song’s core offset by the gentle open chords of guitars and synthesizers. During the verse, the restrained vocals come across like a whisper while the choruses cut loose and soar through time and space.
You can get hints of various indie rock influences like Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes, and The Faint as the band embraces a more feral edge in their music. The drums stay on target the entire way, providing just enough spine for the bass to wrap itself around it. Lyrically, there’s a macabre journey to be taken that loosely channels “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe with a story about a lone tree standing in the middle of a field of wheat stalks.
Without giving away the ending, there’s a sense of desolation and desperation that the tree comes to symbolize leading the song’s narrator down a more vicious path than expected. It’s an interesting premise that gives “When the Stalks Are Low” a literary feel in its use of metaphor that works to flesh out its storytelling. Roscoe Tripp manages something impressive in their ability to dynamically weave a musical story that defies expectations.
“When the Stalks Are Low” is available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Find it and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenere 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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As a producer bringing some major events to Capital Pride this year, Zach Renovátes admits that he was keen to get Betty Who on the lineup. After having seen several of her live performances already, Renovátes knew the Australian would make a fine marquee addition to the “Kinetic Presents Candyland” event at Echostage June 10.
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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.
