The latest EP by Neato, Future Stunts, begins with two very different songs. “I want to see this go bye-bye-bye-bye” vocalist/guitarist, Ayden Flanigan, sings over the chorus of “Ginger Lemon.” A catchy and inventive opener. We can all relate to such a sentiment in the parlance of our times. The music flows with the indie/punk vibe akin to Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. Around the recording members Flanigan, Adam Morenberg (bass), Mason Kosman (guitar), and Lily Kulp (drums) were also very influenced by Horsegirl Phish and the one and only Radiohead. On “King Fisher” the band delves into a punk barrage of chaos. The tom drums accent the verses before breaking into full form during the chorus. The unrelenting vocals and guitar are all distorted with a jammy bass line holding down the rhythm. Culminating with a guitar solo at the three-minute mark before easing down into an abyss of nothingness. That fabled ghost we all trek toward. The song structures portray a verse-chorus-verse and are dynamically peppered with pre-chorus, post-chorus, bridge etc. This adds an energy to their sound which makes Neato unique and exceptional. It’s one thing to have influences, but it is something special to make a sound completely your own. Hailing from Burlington, Vermont, the group has been recording songs and performing them as a band for over a year with no sign of slowing down. Track four, “Hideaway,” is a particularly outstanding track. “My hideaway is fine, but it’s keeping me inside of just one thing,” Flanigan croons. It’s as if the listener is hearing doo-wop surf for the first time. This may very well be the case as I can’t think of another band playing such a sub-genre. It all feels so familiar, however. As I listen I can’t even place where I’ve heard these songs before, but it’s as if they’ve been around for as long as Buddy Holly’s glorious rock n’ roll sound. To say it’s nostalgic would be selling it short as that word has been hijacked to have a negative connotation nowadays. I will say that nostalgia is actually a good thing overall. To put this into perspective, one must be cognizant of becoming emotionally drunk. Longing for something that was never real or even there, perhaps. Ultimately, Future Stunts, combats the peril of such an insight with fully imagined songs. The five songs on the EP mostly track between 3 to 4 and a half minutes providing a polished sound that is rough around the edges (as they clearly intended it to be). The final song, “Quiet Thing,” forms an emotional poem. It is sad yet endearing. I’m reminded of the beauty of a young couple falling in love as they are “holding dance competitions with [their] hands forever.” This all goes awry in the story as the organized chaos (in the universe of the song) falls into subtle catharsis in the final verse. This is followed by sheer dissonant cacophony in the outro. Flanigan begins the penultimate stanza with a stark realization:
It’s too bad
But it’s okay I guess
It’s unfair
When you lie to me
And then begins the chaos of a blistering guitar solo with an emphatic rhythm section as Flanigan screams, “…If you wanna go …if you wanna stop.” There are more questions than answers in “Quiet Thing,” yet one thing is for certain: the narrator has been betrayed by the ugly head of dishonesty.
It is encouraging to hear what Neato has done with the ever-fascinating, Future Stunts. They don’t shy away from their influences, nor should they. After all there is no original thought or idea anymore. Perhaps there never was. Perhaps it’s all up there floating in the ether and songs and sounds find us artists on our terrestrial plane. Perhaps we all need to follow Neato’s lead and simply reach out and grab them.
Written by The Moderner
