St. Petersburg based act Liquid Pennies specialize in an indie-psych sound that toes the oh-so fine line between concise and abstract. After hammering out a new batch of tunes on stage, in between shows, and even on a live radio performance, they’re back with a four-song EP they’ve titled A Wake-Ending, which was recorded with Ryan Boesch of Candor Recording (of The Melvins, Eels, Andrew W.K., The Foo Fighters, and Nora Jones fame). Boesch helped the band encapsulate the fervor of their live sound – something they nailed on this interesting and wild group of new songs.
Opening song “Discretion” opens with a whirr of feedback hum before launching into a shoegaze inspired guitar jangle from guitarist Chas Binns. Very quickly, you realize A Wake-Ending is going to be a wild ride, as rolling and rollicking drums from Christian Kovar start rattling the space between your ears. Dylan Carney’s bass acts as a happy medium, following Kovar’s wild drumming with a nimble presence. Throughout “Discretion” the band twists and turns through genre after genre – at one point exploding into grunge-laced guitar tones before pivoting back into a funky verse. It’s clear these three are truly in sync with each other – they may flail from genre to genre, but they do it together.
Song two, “The Current” dips into the indie-punk dance flavors of the mid to late aughts, pairing blistering hi-hat work with high-fretwork basslines and otherworldly vocals. Holding out until the 1:20 mark here is your best bet, as the band blasts from a fuzzed-out breakdown into a jazz style demonstration of their prowess as musicians. Kovar goes first with a tom-heavy roll; Binns is next with some ultra-distorted guitar shredding; and Carney goes third with an absolutely mind-numbing demonstration on the bass. Then, get this… they do it all again. And then AGAIN. It’s clear that instrumentation is a big part of what makes Liquid Pennies tick, and “Current” is probably the strongest proof of that on this particular project.
“Vestibules” takes a darker, more haunting approach. Liquid Pennies know how to shred for sure, but here they take it down a step and explore swimmier textures and it’s absolutely refreshing… That is, until the absolutely guttural scream from Binns at the 3:15 mark. The band violently explodes into a massive ending before invoking the song’s lighter approach to close things out. Album closer, “In An Ebb” takes a similar approach – the seven-plus minute song goes completely shoegaze at the six minute mark, opting to fill your brain with a wall of near atonal sound. It’s almost like you’re watching the band hit their final chord, take off their instruments, and walk off the stage letting their instruments continue to scream – a fitting end to an album from a band whose live sound is so important to their chemistry.
You can find A Wake-Ending via most streaming services, including Bandcamp (which we’ve linked to below). For a full list of listening options and other goodies, check out this all-encompassing Linktree link.