Major Leagues – Dream States (EP Review)

by Steven Spoerl

major leagues

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

Major Leagues have been quietly perfecting their own distinct take on jangly basement pop for a few years now and Dream States stands as their most definitive statement to date. After a certain amount of time playing together, great bands begin to develop the kind of chemistry that sets them apart from both their peers and the bands who have only just begun emerging. Dream States sees that chemistry in full bloom as one near-perfect song gives way to another, leaving behind a realistic possibility that Dream States may come to be regarded as a minor classic.

Every individual piece that’s on display throughout the EP’s all-too-brief run registers as a standout, teasing potential flawlessness until the very last seconds (and then leaving you wondering if that it was something the band actually achieved). Each of the six songs that comprise Dream States are intelligently composed, dynamic, accessible, and immediate. None of them fall apart when placed under heavy scrutiny and they each make enough impact to leave a lasting impression and linger long after they’ve ended.

Dream States is an astonishing release that should go a long ways in ensuring Major Leagues experience a (well-deserved) growth in terms of name recognition. It’s a listen that’s unlikely to grow stale anytime soon and one that all but guarantees return trips. The EP rewards investment but doesn’t necessitate it, which will likely leave the entire affair as a remarkably agreeable release among a very large section of people. Bright, charming, and brilliant, Dream States is the kind of release that should still be receiving praise well into the next few years.   

Listen to Dream States below and pick it up from the band here.