Charlotte, NC quartet Serfs released their debut EP, Common Feelings, today for free download. The 5-song effort is a blend of garage rock jangle, the crushing-yet-vulnerable dynamics of shoegaze, the chaos of noise pop, the snarl of punk, and the charm of indie pop. "The songs on this record were born out of a personal crisis I went through last year," says vocalist and guitarist Phil Pucci. "The record is largely about friendship and on a bigger scale, my contradictory desires to at the same time fit in and run away from Midwood, the part of Charlotte where I live."
Full disclosure, I'm friends with Phil. I've also been a fan of his work for years, going all the way back to the early 00's when he was in the great Almighty Flying Machine. I've followed and written about his work a few times here at MM, so I can safely say that I've watch his songwriting develop and mature over the years. On Common Feelings, Serfs -- rounded out here by David Scanlon (guitar), Patrick Doherty (bass), and Olivia Neal (Drums) -- demonstrate a knack for the chaotic, the melodic, and the rousing, with Pucci's songwriting tackling more challenging arrangements and new directions.
Common Feelings captures Phil's sentiment about the last year of his life rather vividly. The sound here is one of chaotic harmony, a restlessness that lies just beneath the surface of things. It's the mental tug of war between the emotional storm inside and the inevitable course of events on the outside. The thrash of distortion and the melancholic shimmer of notes detail the battle that rages on for longer than one hopes it ever would, drifting into even the haven of home. And just as it all reaches a head and your mind has stepped to the precipice of sanity, all the trouble ebbs to the horizon and fades away. It's the blues played by a self-described "garage-gaze" band, and it's a pretty great time.
Download and spin all of Common Feelings below.
Serfs
Bandcamp
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