Now in his 40s, singer-guitarist James Alex Snyder is twice as old as his peers in the Philadelphia punk scene. But with Beach Slang, the group the former Weston member founded with ex-Nona bassist Ed McNulty and former Ex-Friends drummer JP Flexner, Snyder found the perfect vehicle for his weary yet urgent anthems.
The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us, the band's debut, builds off last year's two EPs, marrying Sugar's driving alt-rock to Paul Westerberg's wise-beyond-years lyrical conceits; everything in Beach Slang's world needs to happen right now, before time runs out. Snyder's age suggests he knows the clock is ticking, that this is his last kick at the can. But songs like "Young & Alive" and "I Break Guitars" don't sound desperate. Rather, they showcase a self-aware artist working at the peak of his powers. "Too young to die, too late to die young," he sings elsewhere on the record, providing as clear a modus operandi as we're like to hear this year.
Teeming with hooks and lyrical calls to arms, The Things We Do is a unique record, one that rages with youthful vigour, but which couldn't have been made by anyone under the age of 35.
(Polyvinyl)The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us, the band's debut, builds off last year's two EPs, marrying Sugar's driving alt-rock to Paul Westerberg's wise-beyond-years lyrical conceits; everything in Beach Slang's world needs to happen right now, before time runs out. Snyder's age suggests he knows the clock is ticking, that this is his last kick at the can. But songs like "Young & Alive" and "I Break Guitars" don't sound desperate. Rather, they showcase a self-aware artist working at the peak of his powers. "Too young to die, too late to die young," he sings elsewhere on the record, providing as clear a modus operandi as we're like to hear this year.
Teeming with hooks and lyrical calls to arms, The Things We Do is a unique record, one that rages with youthful vigour, but which couldn't have been made by anyone under the age of 35.