Electrifying groovy indie rock—that is what you get when you listen to ANiMALSOUL’s new EP “Color.” The four-track album, which uses an analog color theme, explores the highs and lows of life. The four-man band debuted this freshman EP on Saturday, March 25 at Tricky Falls.
Hosted by Electric Social Records, the show included performances by The Other Half, Stan Z, Josh Brown and The Great Shapes, all leading up to ANiMALSOUL’s performance.
“I try to write songs about situations that people might go through,” said Jourdan Harper, lead vocalist, guitar and keyboard player for ANiMALSOUL.
He said the album is about experiencing independence, both the negative and positive aspects of it.
The night swayed musically from indie rock with The Other Half, to an alternative twist to hip-hop with Stan Z.
Rapper Josh Brown stormed the stage and the opening acts ending on a strong note with The Great Shapes. All that was needed was ANiMASOUL to take the stage.
“Tonight is the biggest sigh of relief,” Alan Arellano, bassist, said. “This period of time has been just stressful trying to finish it. It’s hard for four people to agree on one thing anyways when someone feels strongly about one thing. Right now it’s like ‘thank God it’s today”’ It’s genuinely just exciting.”
As the band’s name was called out, lights dimmed as a sample of Jay-Z’s “PSA” played. Then the four stormed on stage and opened with “Color,” the first song off their EP of the same title. The song started with haunting tropical synthetic sounds followed by Harper’s vocals. Then right before the hook, drummer Valente Arellano fiercely introduced the song’s percussion melody.
The first song was a sonic roller coaster; they used softer vocals and instruments at some points to build up momentum, then they would energetically clash and raise the tempo of the song.
The band then transitioned to their next song, “Younger,” which included heavy drums and guitar. Lyrics, such as the hook, “We’re not the same, we’re not getting any younger,” preached carpe diem.
ANiMALSOUL transitioned smoothly from track to track. In fact, sometimes the listener gets lost in how much one song alters throughout its duration that they think they are listening to a new track. That was the feeling after hearing the band play “Song 4.”
The mood, as Harper explained with the theme of the album, shifts to a more somber tone on this track almost instantly. Harper sings “I’ve been thinking, baby, about how.” The rooted kick drum with a fiery guitar adds to the track.
The last minute of the song was accompanied with a significant snare hit, and it progressively elevated to further emphasize the melancholic tone.
When the concert appeared to be finished and the band exited the stage, the crowd chanted for an encore. Much to the crowd’s liking, they rejoined the stage and that is when the band closed with their best track of the night, “I Want.”
Guitarist Ivan Arellano opened the song with a groovy riff accompanied by Valente’s thrashing drum line. Throughout the song, Harper used more radiant, soft vocals, which juxtaposed beautifully to the more thrashing instrumentals.
When the song seemed over, ANiMALSOUL provided a killer outro sparked by keys to “I Want,” which served as the perfect epilogue to the performance.
Overall, the talent of ANiMASOUL is almost undeniably remarkable to the local music scene, and their EP “Color” exhibits just that. The band also commented how in the coming months, they will start on their second part to the album, claiming this was only part one.
For further listening, visit animalsoulband.com or like their Instagram, Twitter and Facebook page by searching ANiMALSOUL band.
Adrian Broaddus may be reached at [email protected].
