Literature, Tour EP

Literature’s Tour EP is four tracks’ worth of indie-rock: somewhat sloppy vocals that go in and out of tune and well-crafted guitar parts with meaningful lyrics. The band is comprised of five young men from Austin who decorated their CD with a brown and white horse sticker. In fact, they remind me slightly of Houston’s own band of indie-rockers Young Mammals, previously known as The Dimes.

Likely to get stuck in your head, “Apples” starts with drums, then brings in a guitar, next bass, and finally voice. The band sings, “You will never hear that from me / Oh no, guess it’s already over,” in a chorus where the guitar follows the melody of the vocals note for note, later accompanied by a hidden xylophone part. “Lily as an After Thought” continues, the muffled vocal reaching its high point with the repeated bridge, “Oh, oh, it’s over now, and we’re so far down, and you know it’s true,” which captivates the listener with the break between “it’s” and “true,” and a bass part that follows the melody in the beginning only to break away and take a different route.

“The Prime Meridian” adds some effects to the guitars with distortion and echoey resonance. “Grifted” is my favorite only because of the pick-me-up bright sound and how well everything seems to mesh in this particular song. It sounds like the most practiced or perhaps best-thought-out piece of the bunch. Each individual instrument carries its weight and stands out distinctly with a nice fadeout at the end.

The best word to describe this collection of songs is “catchy.” Literature has found four tunes that gives them a signature sound and will stay with the listeners. And the songs blend together nicely because they each end similarly. A lot can be caught in this album on headphones that wouldn’t be detected otherwise, however — any keys are overshadowed by the guitars. I think the biggest problem here lies in the fact that the entire EP ends in ten minutes, a length which could be accomplished with just two tracks. The songs are different enough that they can be distinguished from one another, and each one carries its own weight, but they should assuredly write some more!