Heartbreaking Bravery

2015 has kept the great material coming in at a breakneck pace on a daily basis. Over the past few days, a lot of attention-deserving content has come trickling into the fold. Few of them have been more exhilarating- or more unexpected- than site favorites Midnight Reruns’ latest EP, Get Me Out. Announced on their Facebook, it was a blink-and-miss-it type of prospect but acts as a full illustration of the band’s startling progression. For a while, guitarist/vocalist Graham Hunt was concerned that the band would be pegged as a niche powerpop act following the releases of a strong EP (Central Time) and an even stronger self-titled full-length. Having already established themselves as one of the more exciting emerging acts in the upper Midwest, the band’s hell-bent on taking things to the next level- and for good reason.

Get Me Out arrives in advance of the band’s forthcoming full-length, which was recorded and produced by longtime fan/supporter Tommy Stinson (yes, that Tommy Stinson- the one whose band Midnight Reruns will be opening for tomorrow in Milwaukee). As evidenced by the band’s incendiary live shows, their newest material has all been equipped with more challenging dynamics that are quickly revealing the band to be quite a bit more multi-dimensional than they may have appeared at first glance. With shows at The Fest coming up and a few more things in motion, they’re set to capitalize on their building momentum. It’s part of why Get Me Out is a crucial, if small, release. None of the songs on the EP- other than the one contained in this post’s headline- will be appearing on the band’s impending full-length, which effectively renders the collection as an extremely tantalizing teaser.

“Ain’t Gonna Find”, the collection’s lead-off, is one of the most monstrously poppy songs the band’s ever committed to a recording. From the surging guitar progression to the shamelessly catchy “na na na” chorus, it’s an intensely immediate and accessible work, definitively proving that they’ve mastered a niche genre pocket. Dig a little deeper and a few other things start to betray the band’s growing ambitions; the intuitive lead guitar part that appears in the back-half of the second verse, the shape-shifting bridge, and the cavalcade of seemingly non-stop hooks- the band’s not only mastered this genre, they’ve transcended it. Yet, it’s likely still the most straightforward song on the band’s upcoming release. As a standalone single, it’s every self-defeatist’s summer anthem; as a look ahead, it’s intriguing. As a piece of the band’s history, it’s a perfectly-timed, perfectly-executed shot that might just wind up hitting the exact right mark.

Listen to “Ain’t Gonna Find” below and let the fantastic Get Me Out stream through when it’s finished. Pick it up today and tomorrow for free on the band’s bandcamp and keep an eye on this site for further details.