Listening to ‘Wrench,’ the debut album from Flycatcher, you soon find comfort in the New Jersey quartet’s brand of emo-rock. Its 10 tracks take the framework of their early EPs, and weaves some Americana-inspired warmth into their musical fabric. In turn, it provides tracks such as ‘Down’ and ‘Flood’ with a lyrical yearning and stirring guitar melodies, which are as long as the roads the four-piece find themselves driving across. There is also emotional gut-punches that dwell in weathered skin, such as the grungy alt-rock title track. While ‘Watergap’ tinkers away with a distant longing, partly thanks to Gregory Pease’s raspy, lived-in vocals.
As a songwriter, Pease is a compelling storyteller. At times, he can be trivial (see ‘Super Bowl’), or introspective as he wrestles with perception on ‘Fault Line’. The country-tinged ‘Brother’ aches with humble admiration, capturing the warmth and respect of looking up to someone who quietly holds everything together. Whereas ‘Man on the Run’ paints a character portrait of someone leaving destruction in their path, without knowing what they’ve done. Tigers Jaw‘s Brianna Collins chips in with some pleasing harmonies to one of the album’s standout tracks.
Undoubtedly, ‘Wrench’ is the sound of a band who have found their footing. The use of personal songwriting alongside an expansive and assured sound makes ‘Wrench’ one of the year’s hidden gems. As a band, Flycatcher’s musical education extends far beyond the Garden State. Vocalist Gregory Pease has selected 5 albums that helped shape Flycatcher and ‘Wrench’.
Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind
This is the ultimate rock record for every one of us in the band, truly perfect front to back. It’s wild how catchy this whole thing is. We definitely always have this record in the back of our minds whenever we’re working on something new; it’s really just the gold standard.
Tons of alternate tunings all over this thing, which is definitely something that we’ve adopted heavily into the identity of our band. Most importantly, this album serves as a reminder that you can make interesting and nuanced music while still having massive choruses and hooks. Not to mention the production and mix, there are very few (if any) albums that sound better than this one.
Greet Death – New Hell
Greet Death came through New Brunswick to play a house show in 2018/19, and they really changed the game for me. Their song ‘Strange Days’ had been out for over a year before the rest of the record dropped. I just remember tuning in every month to see when it was coming out.
This is my ultimate fall record. The whole thing feels like a blanket. One of the most cohesive records I’ve ever heard without sounding repetitive or derivative, they truly nailed it. This might be the vinyl that’s gotten the most love in my house.
Nonetheless, a huge inspiration for us just in terms of evolving as a band and staying true to your vision. We sound nothing like them but I think it’s good to find inspiration in things that may be a bit further from what you’re doing.
Alex G – God Save the Animals
It would feel foolish to leave Alex G off of this list, considering how much of his music I listen to. I’m a fan of all of his work but ‘GSTA’ really clicked for me. There’s something about his off-kilter songwriting married with some big-time 90s rock production that makes this record feel like Counting Crows or even Tom Petty.
Lyrically, Alex has always been an inspiration; he finds ways to say things in a very succinct and relaxed manner. I never feel like he’s totally spelling this out for me but he’s never being too obscure.
Not to mention, there is so much great restraint all across this album, keeping things small when he can totally blow them out. He just always seems to be showing his hand only at the right times.
I also love a record where the acoustic guitar is the main focus.
Ty Segall – Melted
Another ultimate rock record. I forgot how much I loved this one for a few years, but I fell back in love with it somewhat recently. So many hooks and gems here, buried in some insane production choices.
Whenever I listen to Ty Segall, I’m always reminded that there’s infinite music in root position chords and bar chords. He does so much with so little on this record and sometimes we forget that the best songs are made of the simplest ingredients. I’m still not sure how ‘Girlfriend’ hasn’t replaced ‘Seven Nation Army’ yet as the sports arena stomp clap interlude music. But in all seriousness, I love this album so much, and it’s definitely made me slow down and simplify some of the things I’ve been doing. I don’t think I would’ve written songs like ‘Brother’ or ‘Down’ without this album.
U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
U2 will always get clowned for putting their music directly onto everyone’s phones, but I was fortunate enough to be raised in a house where their music was always playing. ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ is such a massive record. These songs are still larger than life to me, so I always use them as a reminder of that otherworldly feeling I’d get when I heard these songs in the car when I was six.
I can’t even begin to compare what we’re doing to this album, but when we were laying down the big sweeping slide guitars on songs like ‘Fault Line’, ‘Down’, and ‘Flood ‘, I couldn’t help but think about some of those massive guitar tones that the Edge was getting on this album. I think it’s good to remember the music that made you feel excited when you were a little kid. I’ll probably always be chasing that feeling and trying to make something that brings it back. I’m not sure if we’ll ever succeed, but we’re having fun trying!
‘Wrench’ by Flycatcher is out now on Memory Music.
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