It has been a big year for Ashland, Oregon indie rock/power pop trio Summer Colds. The increasingly popular band dropped their debut single, “Whiteout,” last spring followed now by their anticipated debut album, Here Comes Nothing.
For an album with a title that is more than modest, this baby delivers some things – that are 90s-retro in many ways.
It’s hard to review this album without throwing out various subgenres of indie and alternative rock. The ‘throw-back’ DIY-sound of Here Comes Nothing is consistent across most of the tracks, including the melodic fuzzy rock vibe of “Low,” pegged by a neat little hook that’s hard to shake.
The vocals, led by guitarist and vocalist Nic McNamara, will remind some right away of the indie band They Might Be Giants. That’s not an original observation; many who have heard his voice, especially in the context of retro alt-pop, have said the same.
The second track of the eight-track album is the forward-driving song, “Found,” with its adherence to 1990s alt/indie pop-rock ethos.
As it turns out, “Found” is more than just another track on the album. According to McNamara, it is also the sole track on the album that set the tone for Summer Cold’s musical style.
“Found” projects a refreshed take on the 90s southern California alt-pop sound of bands like Weezer. It sports that laid-back slacker dynamic reinforced by Nicole Swan‘s booming basslines, McNamara’s chugging guitar and Claire Burgess‘s bouncy, energetic drumming. McNamara also plays bass and drums.
Actually, McNamara says, the song was originally written a decade ago when he was first starting to record songs acoustically for his former band Black Bears Fire.
As he puts it, the song arrives with even more history than just its decade of ferment. “Changing the song from acoustic to electric was the catalyst for taking a new direction musically and for starting a new band,” McNamara concludes.
The second official single from the album, “Killing Flies,” was written and recorded in its entirety a few months prior to the album’s release.
“I wrote ‘Killing Flies’ in a flash of inspiration,” McNamara says, adding: “triggered by running into an ex-girlfriend who had taken a self-destructive path.”
“The song came together quicker than usual and ended up setting the standard for what the mixing and production of the rest of the tracks on the album would sound like,” he says reflectively.
“Killing Flies” moves even further into this pop-punk mold with a stripped-back set of arrangements and snarky vocals in the style McNamara feels natural with.
Other standout tracks on the album include “Copenhagen,” starting out with a mid-tempo and melodic guitar with the band coming all together in full force at the chorus.
Interestingly, the album’s second half – and its best half – rocks with a punk-inspired verge and urgency. It’s quite a ride for fans punk-pop in the vein of bands like the Descendents.
“Deep End” has a surfy punk-pop vibe, setting up the final two fantastic tracks, starting with the hard-hitting, guitar-frenzied and unforgettable, “Sober October,” followed by the lighter, and welcoming, final touch of “Centipedes,” saving one of the best tracks for last.
The half-hour album weaves McNamara’s dreary and poetic songwriting style with fuzzy pop-rock sensibilities of the 90’s alternative rock era driven by power chords and hooks immersed in the dense imagery of the album’s melancholic lyrics.
Summer Colds does not rely on one genre/sub-genre although if forced, they’d have to put themselves into the power-pop end of the indie rock musical spectrum. They obviously enjoy, and with good results, mixing alt. and indie rock elements with power pop and punk-pop.
After releasing two albums with his former indie band Black Bears Fire, McNamara began a new project, recruited a couple of band members and began writing and recording as Summer Colds to “bring to life a heavier sound than my previous folk-rock project.”
He has opened for a bunch of bands over the past five years, including Slow Corpse, Old Year, Calyx, The Juniper Berries, Yr Parents, and Glacierwolf. Summer Colds’ biggest influences include Weezer, White Reaper, Surfer Blood, Pup, Brand New, and Wavves.
McNamara was born in Johannesburg South Africa where his father, Stevin McNamara, was a recording engineer for Lucky Dube, Brenda Fassi, and Ladysmith Blacksmith Mambazo, and later, Bryan Adams, Tina Turner, Def Leppard, and Michael Bolton. When the Summer Colds frontman was a child, his family moved to the U.K. town of Surrey, England.
In the early 1990s, his family moved to the United States where he continued to study music and recording engineering.
