Words by Jim

Anticipation can be a real bitch, you know? You wait and you wait and you wait and then whenever whatever it is actually get’s here, you’re disappointed. It’s happened to me a million times in the past. Christmas morning comes and that video game you wanted so bad turns out to be totally stupid and like, you’re way cooler than that shit anyway. The Matrix sequels finally come out and man, didn’t they totally blow? Yeah. They did. That gets me to my point. Big Hurry have been working hard and recording new material for a long time now. They’ve been playing their brains out in Pittsburgh, New York, West Virginia and more. Their last release was Silver Screens back in late 2009 and it’s been a favorite of mine since I first heard it. Talk about anticipation right? I’ll be honest – I had pretty high hopes for this band and this new EP.

After that dramatic jump, I’ll get to the point. I’ll be damned if Big Hurry didn’t fucking kill it on this release. They destroyed it. Gets Me Low is a searing five song EP that effectively demonstrates how much Big Hurry has grown since their 2009 release. Maturity and growth and all that jazz is all well and good, but it sure as hell helps when the music is well-crafted and catchy. This is where the band has excelled in the past and now is no exception. Before I dive into the tracks, I just want to state that this album sounds absolutely amazing. Huge kudos to the band, the studio, the sound engineers, and everyone else who worked on this because it’s a pristine recording. The instruments are huge, the drums are up front, and Tobias’s vocals have never sounded better. Amen.

Gets Me Low starts off hot out of the box with the catchiest, danciest, most exuberant Big Hurry you’ve ever heard. A classic Dani Buncher drum beat gives way to “oh oh oh”s and “hey hey”s built around a plaintive verse. Kicking it into a whole another gear for the chorus, Tobias sings “It gets me low / It gets me so low / When I think about the way it used to be”. That’s right – minor key theme over major key music. Awesome.

After candid chatter, “Waterways” drifts in with a beautifully arpeggiated verse, sparse bass, and taseteful drums that really let the listener focus on Tobias’s beautiful vocal work and engaging lyrics. “Rust belt living keeps us strong / We can’t cry because the Great Lakes / we’d overflow ‘em” – absolutely kills me. With a sliding chorus filled with catchy guitar work and an enticing melody, “Waterways” will quickly become a fan favorite.

My true love on the EP, and bear with me as I gush, is “This In Between”. This tune already has the chance to be in my top five favorite songs of 2011. What’s so great about this track is that the band has written a song that contains all the best parts of Big Hurry while simultaneously sounding fresh. Wilkosz simple power chord intro with a PERFECT amount of delay staggers me every time – sure it’s simple, but it’s not the usual BH guitar track we’re all used to. Amazing vocal work from Tobias and yet another sing-along chorus and I’ve already hit repeat. The usual abstract lyrics in the verses, but yet the chorus contains some of Tobias’s bluntest, most emotionally honest lyrics I’ve ever heard. A simple bridge pleads “Something’s gotta give you know / The places we used to come and go” ending with one last drawn out note to rally the crowd for the last chorus. It’s going to be hard for me not to scream “What I tried to tell you/ Is that I don’t know” at their next live show. The dynamics are perfect. The strong structure is perfect. The added “Hey!”s make it even more memorable.

The EP ends strong with two more high energy tracks – “Pack the Room” and “Pushing Daises”. The former has some of the biggest guitar work I’ve heard from BH, which sounds jaw-droppingly good, and great backing vocals from Buncher. “Pushing Daisies” is bound to be a live fan favorite with a great dance beat and big bass notes from Lenny Flatley. This tune, specifically, I imagine being played at the end of the set. It’s got that closer feel to it, but leaves the audience wanting more.

Big Hurry has laid all my fears to rest with Gets Me Low. Although five songs is a little sparse, there’s definitely not a single filler track on this release and it definitely shows off all the talent within the group. I’m not surprised by the outstanding songwriting and musicianship, and it’s really exciting to see the band continuing to write catchy pop songs. This is still the Big Hurry we know and love, but I sense them stepping into new territory (e.g. Buncher’s outstanding backing vocals) and becoming even more confident. The anticipation didn’t get the best of me. The writing and recording process sure as hell didn’t get the best of this group.

10 out of 10 biggie Straub bottles at their next sold-out Brillobox show. Make sure you catch this group live because it’s epic.

You stream songs from Bandcamp and definitely buy the full EP from iTunes.

Big Hurry / Gets Me Low (Free Download)

Filed under: Album Reviews, Homegrown Goodness