Cabin Pressure / My Name You Mention / September 2018
https://cabinpressurema.bandcamp.com
RIYL: Hot Mulligan, Mom Jeans, Knuckle Puck, Free Throw
My Name You Mention is the debut album from Berkshire County, Mass., pop-punk/emo band Cabin Pressure. Recorded at Witness Media and produced by Eric LeDuc, this six-track album features guest vocalist Grace Ida Marks on the track “Things You Should Hear” as well as two standard vocalists, Eric Twing and Harrison Sacco, that create amazing texture by switching between gritty yells, synchronized harmonies, and smooth pop vocals.
The unique attention to the instrumentals differentiates Cabin Pressure from their contemporaries. Lead Guitarist Josh Reynolds says, “when I was writing lead guitar parts for this album, I really wanted to delve deep into the soul of the lyrics. A song like “Memorable,” for example, it’s an emotional roller coaster, going from a somber verse to a frustrated, powerful chorus. I did a lot of studying and dug deep into the blues stylings of Clapton and Santana while trying to bring them into the modern pop punk game to try coming up with something, well, memorable. Truthfully all that work just got thrown out because it was actually awful so I just opened up a Wachusett Blueberry six pack, plugged my guitar in and said “Fuck it, let’s see what happens,” and that’s what really ended up on the record.” The band’s candor about the writing process and how not everything you write ends up as a masterpiece shows a level of transparency that’s fresh in the music industry.
The lyrics complement the instrumentals beautifully, and are sure to pull at your heartstrings. Beginning with “all I’ve got left are these broken thoughts / they keep me up at night,” the album takes listeners through a collection of deeply personal and carefully curated stories with themes of self-doubt, self-discovery, and heartbreak (romantic and otherwise). The record ends with the hauntingly crushing “I wish I said I’m sorry just a few more times” in the final track, “Things You Should Hear.”
The album works on several levels: as a relatable tool for anyone going through similar situations, and also as a plane of nostalgia for those remembering what it’s like to be young, in love, and broken, but healing. The journey of healing is what is most powerful about this album. It goes from being emotionally exhausted to a crescendoing anger in “I am Jack’s Smirking Revenge” with its pounding drums (Drummer: Ian Caden) and echoing bass (Bassist: Matt Williams). The album settles in closure in which the writer accepts what has been done and moves forward, allowing them to heal.
In terms of the writing process, vocalist Eric Twing said “I just wanted to try and prove I could write something that wasn’t copy and paste pop punk lyrics and something we could be proud of.” He also stated that a huge inspiration for the album were other local bands, such as the melodic hardcore band Crafter. “Right now we really only play to our friends and local shows, I can’t ask for anything more than that and I love it, but like, kind of how when I was just about done with high school and we’d hear about Crafter or Maple Cap. Like whoa, they’re doing it, I want to do that. That’s sort of partially what the themes of the songs are, we’ve done a lot in a year and a half. More than I thought we would. I want to show kids who are just getting into the scene that we were there and there’s still something to believe in. Which is how Crafter and Maple Cap made us feel.”
Cabin Pressure is a direct result of the power harnessed from local music and what getting your passion out to the world can do. Creativity spawns creativity, and then you get My Name You Mention.
My Name You Mention is available for pre-orders on iTunes and Google Play and will be released today at 6 p.m.
–Shann Cahill
Digital Wheat Paste 