Heartbreaking Bravery

While this site was (and is) still grappling with an inability to directly access soundcloud, an insane amount of music’s been brought into the world. The few songs that did earn features here were all accessed remotely, via other generous posters. One that seemed to slip by most, though, was music from the extraordinary, just-released Cheap Trick by the Chicago-based Geronimo!. Time to right that wrong. Cheap Trick is easily among the best records to have come out so far this year and the record’s penultimate track, the coursing “Euphoria”, manages to define both the record and the band in a little under seven minutes.

Not a single one of those seconds is wasted as the song goes from a sedated and contemplative slow-burner to a frenzied sonic assault. There’s a perfectly executed transition that leans in on the band’s penchant for woozy guitar riffs that are as inspired by shoegaze as they are post-punk. Even with that, the band still finds enough room for a few other influences; Midwestern emo, early hardcore, and left-field powerpop- and blends them into an aesthetic package that’s wholly their own.

By the time “Euphoria” hits, the record’s already full-sprint and climactic enough but this single song manages to push it, gleefully, over the edge of a cliff. It’s the soundtrack of the descent and it’s clear Geronimo! loves every exhilarating minute. Appropriately, considering the title, “Euphoria” winds up being the most noticeable moment of catharsis on a record full of them. Don’t let this one go unnoticed.

Listen to “Euphoria” below and make sure to pick up Cheap Trick as soon as humanly possible.