Review #15 : Nude Shoes

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REVIEW #15

Artist: Nude Shoes
Album: Suburban Ceremonies

    Break out the time machine folks, the mid-2000s are back! I mean between 2019’s Warped Tour lineup and this Nude Shoes’ release, let’s all just move back to 2008, yeah? I’m all for it, except the recession. Let’s skip that part.

    Meanwhile in the present day, Suburban Ceremonies dropped, via Know Hope Records, onto the New Jersey music scene’s radar on March 1st, and I do apologize for being late to the party. That said, I hope traditional and new wave (?) pop-punk fans have so far appreciated the work of Andy Katz’s latest musical endeavor for its quality lyrics and light melodic hardcore tone. I know I do a lot of comparisons in my reviews, but I feel as though fans of A Day to Remember, Spitafield, and The Spill Canvas will all find something to enjoy in this freshman EP.
My personal favorite track would have to be “Headache for a Debacle” because of its energetic intro and invitation to a good hipster head-bob throughout. Seriously though, the song covers harder to discuss topics such as depression and mental health, but in a way that keeps you caught up in an upbeat melody. This is not so different from another recent release by previously reviewed New Jersey band, Halogens. The final track on Suburban Ceremonies, “Gamma Jack”, also plays hosts to similar themes and tone.
I definitely think it’s a strong step forward that more and more artists are presenting the significance of these issues in a bright and positive way. I feel as if that method of presentation makes them easier to acknowledge and understand in some cases. That said, this is all of course dependent on the listener and their taste.

    My one criticism of the EP would be that this set list of songs sound a bit too similar to each other for my liking. While each track for sure has its own defining qualities, I ended up noticing that each chorus felt like it could fit into the other songs surrounding it. However, one could argue that is merely the nature of the genre, and I can happily say is by no means a reason to pass over 
this quality debut.
Having followed Andy Katz’s musical career for some time now, I can easily declare that to this point, Nude Shoes has become his most ambitious, polished, and professional work yet. I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Ryan Hanratty
Frosted Green Productions


 

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