Cymbals Eat Guitars // Pretty Years

Cymbals Eat Guitars

Pretty Years

Sinderlyn 

4.25/5 stars

Beginning with subtle, staccato palm muting, "Finally" doesn't wait long to add in the lush bomb bursts that Cymbals Eat Guitars are known for. The Philadelphia quartet have perfected a rich, modern shoegaze sound filled with echoey, effects-laden instrumentation. It even makes sense that their keyboard player, Brian Hamilton, has his own guitar pedal company, smallsound/bigsound. The tweaked tones mix with their emotional punk songwriting for something refreshingly welcome. Singer Joseph D'Agostino's lyrics are filled with sympathetic prose, evocative of past experiences, sung with the grainy eloquence of Cursive (with whom they toured in 2012). Melody-driven tracks like "Well" and "Have a Heart" even bring an almost poppy edge to the album. Pretty Years falls just short in affecting the listener as immediately and dramatically as 2014's Lose, which was this reviewer's single favorite album that year. After multiple plays, however, Pretty Years comes out of its shell, resonating deeply and profoundly with the listener. If this level of quality continues, Cymbals Eat Guitars will easily become more recognized as one of the finest indie rock bands today. – Nick Warren