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Indie Rock group The Crystal Casino Band released Maryland House this winter on January 27, 2023. This is their sixth studio album and is claimed to be their best so far. It pays homage to their home area of DC, Maryland, and Virginia and their young adult lives. The album features 13 killer songs. A few songs stand out more than others but the overall album is great and sure to grab the attention of new listeners. The album comments on life as a young adult and the reality of our lives, making it feel like a classic album of the genre with hard-hitting takes and the music to back it up.
"Curfew" is the first track and sets the tone for the rest of the album. It’s a song that seems to capture how they feel about being young adults in America. The ending of the song is extremely hard-hitting with lyrics saying, “Another day/ Morning in America/ Not gonna lie I’m scared of ya/ But I can’t leave this area.” The lyrics are eerily backed up by a faint sound of police sirens going off. It’s an unsettling song about the reality of being in America with violence seemingly everywhere, including on our TVs as the song mentions. Even with semi-depressing lyrics, the song is something nice to bob your head along to. There’s plenty of rhyme and rhythm that makes it easy to learn and extremely enjoyable to listen to. This sets the tone for the rest of the album to be what I like to think of as punk lyrics over some indie/rock instrumentals.
"Twenty-something Socialist" is surely a title to catch your attention and made me chuckle a bit. With a title like that, I expect a banger punky song with some potentially controversial lyrics and this song absolutely delivers and I love it. It’s punk-ish and absolutely gets the message across about the current times. Some may find it controversial as the word “socialist” has heavy connotations but many twenty-something year olds can relate. A song about socialism being appealing because they’re tired of the everyday grind and tired of being used by the wealthy? Sign up just about any punk fan. The song hits the mark of having the classic punk sounding vocals and killer guitar and drum line to match. It’s enough to make you want to dance along and scream at the top of your lungs. It is definitely one of my favorite songs from the album.
"Wealth and Riches" is towards the end of the album and slows down a bit in comparison to previous songs and ends with a short, killer guitar solo. The song is seemingly about wealth and riches making and breaking relationships. There is this sadness to the song, almost like a sad breakup or cheating song. I get this very vivid image of a breakup montage in a romance movie. There’s the slowness to the song that brings in some sadness and enough heart to feel the passion and pain. I’m unsure if that’s the intention of the song, but that’s the powerful image and vibe I get from the heartfelt vocals and the repetitive plucking of the guitar.
"Antlers'' sounds like a relatable song to just about anyone who has had regrets. From the lyrics, it sounds like a song about the regret of a lost love or regret of not being able to say something before your loved one is gone. It talks about seeing antlers (presumably since you’re about to hit a deer) while driving at night and wishing you had held someone tighter and told them how much the love between you means and wishing it didn’t take an accident, or almost accident, to realize just how much you need that person. I’m positive many of us have felt this before with loved ones of all kinds. It’s a classic trope in many movies. The vocals are passionate and get the message across clear as day. There’s regret and love in the vocals. The instrumentals are pretty lowkey and repetitive, which I think is fitting for the song. You don’t want overpowering instrumentals when the lyrics and subject matter tend to be heavier. It allows you to pay attention to what is being said and allows you to feel the emotion in the song. It’s beautifully done and sadly all too familiar of a feeling.
So many of these songs are relatable to many millennials and gen z kids. The album goes through so many different emotions and situations that just about anyone can relate to it, but it is clearly aimed at the young adults, as it was mentioned that this album is a homage to their young adult lives. With commentary on societal issues that weigh on us all and songs simply about love and heartache, this album is sure to make you feel and make you sing along to the everyday struggles. The Crystal Casino Band knocked it out of the park with this album and it’s sure to be a favorite this year.
Keep up with The Crystal Casino Band:
Stream Maryland House
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