Written by Nick Garrastegui
Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace has managed to stay busy throughout the hectic past year and a half. After releasing her solo album “Stay Alive” in October 2020, she has surprise- released an EP titled “At War With The Silverfish.”
The EP opens with “Three of Hearts,” an upbeat folk-style track reminiscent of the early days of Against Me!. It’s a short track, as are most of the songs on the album. Its ending lyrics of “So come on and place your losing best on me” stood out to me on my first listen and have remained favorites as I listen more and more.
“Lolo 13” is my personal favorite track on the album. It starts off with layered acoustic guitars on top of a drum machine. The catchy instrumentals culminate with the introduction of the chorus of “Lolo where’d you go? / Where’d you go? / I lost you in the morning / Cause I couldn’t fall back into you.” The “oohs” that continue before the song’s abrupt end almost act as a way to lull you into the next song.
“Long Dark Night” features some effect oriented vocals to break up the verses and choruses. It’s fitting, and the effects act as a way to complement the lyrical content it surrounds. The grittier verses contain more distorted vocals while the chorus of “Long dark night / Long cold days / Wake up changed / Everything stays the same” features the traditional vocal style found on most of the album.
Track four, “Electro-Static Sweep,” slows things down a bit. This song also features the same alternating effect style vocals, with it being on the refrain of “I am thankful to be invited / Into your beautiful home.” Lyrically, it seems to be about two friends reminiscing on the past, when they were closer than they are now.
“Day Old Coffee” brings the pace back up with ferocious acoustic guitars on top of fast paced drums. It is the shortest song on the EP, clocking in at a hair over one minute long. It also contains some of my favorite lyrics, “Day old coffee microwaved to boiling / Pour it on my eyeballs / And boil my dumb shit brains out.”
“Smug FuckFace” and the album’s closer, “Yesterday, Pt. II” almost seem to go hand in hand lyrically. The former laments a relationship from the past, with the words “Can’t remember our last cigarette / Can’t remember our last kiss” greeting you to the track. The lament doesn’t continue for long however, as the song ends on the words “Oh fuck it all / Let’s just forget about it.”
The closer finds the narrator almost rejuvenated in reminiscing on the relationship. It features on verse repeated twice, with the words “But it was only yesterday / I watched you drive away / I still remember our last kiss / It was only yesterday” calling back to the previous song. The album ends on the words “Yeah you can give me back my silver chain / But baby, baby please do keep the switchblade.”
For an EP that clocks in at under 15 minutes of run time, it packs a heavy punch. It showcases Laura Jane Grace’s songwriting abilities beautifully, and shows you don’t need a lengthy work for it to be good. Released on the first day of fall, it captures the mood beautifully and I can picture it getting replayed heavily within the coming months.
“At War With The Silverfish” is available to stream everywhere you listen to music, and you can pick up some merch from the EP here! You can also follow Laura Jane Grace on twitter @LauraJaneGrace. You can let us know what you think of the new single by tweeting us @lgndsoftmrw!