Blithe

If Blithe was a cleaner band—if their chords jangled and rang, if their vocals muttered duller melodies—their brand of indelible rock might seem safer. It’s in the drums, which bounce heavy on the downbeat, and the guitars turn in the sort of circles that render them memorable. But Blithe isn’t a clean band, and their brand of indelible rock featured on their debut EP False Sense Of Entitlement feels inky, tattered, comprised of ragged rhythms and contorted chords. The guitars on “Murmur” scratch and nip at drummer Ethan Campa’s thumping toms, and Jared Flores’s bass bucks on “So Pretty”—not like a bronco, but like some desperate serpent beneath its trampling hooves. Sometimes singer Ryan Ward screeches, like on “Syringes” where his “Gimme gimme” competes with caustic chords, and sometimes it dribbles down the song; in each case, though, Ward’s voice helps Blithe keep rhythm at the forefront. Because the band writes by feel, False Sense Of Entitlement is a record that is felt physically, and closer “Trabajo” may display this best. Here, jagged crags of guitar jut and stab, steer drums sputter at heedless speeds, leave Ward’s melody leaning exhausted against this careening song—yet it’s song, maybe more than the other four, that’s bound to make its audience mimic its insanity. If Blithe were a cleaner band, they’d be a smoother, simpler pill to swallow. But they aren’t a clean band, and False Sense Of Entitlement offers a kind of chaos that allows their listeners to feel their frenzy and truly make them move.

Booking:
James Cameron - blithemusictx[at]gmail.com