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Released on November 27, 2015 via Iron Pier
Self Defense Family are an outfit built to create and release a slew of different projects. The four or so months gap between this year’s full length, Heaven Is Earth, and this latest EP is considered a long time between releases for these guys. Their format of releasing material and the blend of post-punk and post-hardcore (whatever you want to call it) has solidified this band as one of the most interesting and reliable in modern punk today.
Small releases like this are always intriguing with Self Defense Family; what you’ll get will be uncertain, but of high quality. ‘When The Barn Caves In’ is triumphant in instrumentation, a waking morning paired with this band’s infamous lyricism that addresses the real world and real life, its grinding disappointments and lack of control. The repetitive guitar lead gives breath into the track as Patrick Kindlon rasps “I have no pushing control” in proclamation until the guitar and drums explode into a pounding climax. Another piece that fits perfectly into the bands collection, harkening back to the sound they put forward on Heaven Is Earth.
‘Alan’ presents itself, and is instantly composed in the way I love my SDF; jarring yet rhythmic. The drum flickers at the end of each guitar melody until Kindlon introduces himself and guides it to break from the intro into a steady and cyclical instrumentation. Kindlon speaks of a frog crawling up his throat and speaking for him, an excellent example of the wit, depth and bizarre aspects that have forever made up this bands lyrics. The signature repetition closes this track out, leaving a satisfying taste in your mouth.
I’m once again torn between which track is my favourite from this, as I so often am with Self Defense Family’s splits and EPs. I feel these tracks would have been better suited amongst the short track listing of Heaven Is Earth, they feel like extensions of the musical ideas that showed through on that project, and would have slotted in nicely.
However, this project is no exception in regards to quality for this band, and I’m sure to enjoy this as a standalone for a long time yet. If it catches your fancy, then you should be delving into the maze of splits and releases in their back catalogue, you won’t be disappointed.
