I’ve been in a bit of a rut for a few days and having this album to turn to when I needed a pick-me-up was invaluable. From SoCal, Collars is an up-and-coming DIY band with a fantastic sound and gathers inspiration from bands like Macseal, Sweetpill, and Gulfer. “Half Life” is their first album, recorded and mixed in the drummer’s bedroom and mastered by Adam Cichocki. Whenever I hear “DIY”, I immediately get excited, as it’s my bread and butter lately. The talent and originality that springs out of the DIY scene is godly and unmatched in every sense.
The first track, Half Life, opens with a serene guitar melody and heart-wrenching vocals that all but beg me to lay down in a grassy field and stare up at the passing clouds, allowing my brain to transmute the wisps of white into recognizable shapes as they drift outside my peripherals. “Time waits for no one / Why would it wait up for me? / The more I know the worse I get / So why would I wait for time?”.
The second track Tough Love, is a bit faster and more energetic, with those same lovely vocals I’ve come to get attached to even this early on in the album. About halfway through, there’s a bit of a slow down and a tambourine makes an entrance that brings sparkle and a fun guitar bit into the mix. The beat picks up again and before we know it we’re swept away into the third track.
Posturing reminds me a lot of Macseal (one of my favorite bands at the moment), with its clean and catchy guitar melody that awakens such a feeling of joy in my soul that I feel as though I could take on whatever the world could throw at me. Some lyrics I found especially magnetizing are: “Frustrated, just give it time / Suffocated, I’ve been feeling fine / When all is said and done and you think it’s through / The hardest part of this is missing you”. Something about Collars I really enjoy is that every single instrument is pulling its weight equally, all being handled by talented musicians who have the ability to express their love for the craft through each beat of EVERY track.
The fourth song, Rookie Mistake, is math rock to the core. Guitar tapping is one of the coolest things that I first noticed when I came upon the DIY scene and is a massive goal for me in the future to be able to achieve. Collars does it seemingly effortlessly in this track (and the album in general to be honest) and the drummer gets a huge shoutout from me here.
The last half of this album is full of introspective lyrics mixed with fun and fresh sounds that scratch the “new music itch” for me better than a majority of the music I’ve been listening to casually lately. Songs like Albatross and Jackpot leave me feeling full like I just put down one of the best meals and wish I could relive it again for the first time, savoring each bite for hours.
“Half Life” by Collars is streaming now on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp, so get YOUR fill by becoming acquainted with this incredibly promising band. If you hail from the West Coast of the United States, be sure to see if they’re playing near you in June during their upcoming tour with Blueberry. Follow them on all socials @mathrockband and show them some love!
Written by Newt Fangs
