The latest EP from southeast Michigan’s own PlainView, is a nice emo throwback that revisits the glory days of the punk/emo boom of the early 00’s, with just enough new tricks thrown into the mix to keep things interesting. The band is comprised of Steven Dechausse (vocals), Aaron Rush (guitar/vocals), Andrew Momeyer (bass/vocals), Chris Parker(guitar), and Zach Schroeder (drums) and Nightlife was produced by Mike Martenson (Boys Of Fall). This set of songs that make up the EP features great guitar work, anthemic vocals, pulsating beats, and a little bit of everything you’d come to expect from a band heavily influenced by bands like Bayside, Silverstein, Aiden, and The Used. Guitarist Aaron Rush shared this about the EP, “Nightlife was written through 2020 and 2021 which I think were pretty demanding years for a lot of people. I was surrounded with a lot of stress and uncertainty after a close family member passed unexpectedly. This EP deals with a lot of those feelings but also acknowledges the growth and relationships that come out of dark places.” The band appears poised to take the next dramatic step forward after this great collection of hard-hitting songs.
Kicking off the set with your best song is always a great idea to grab the listener’s attention, and “How Much Break Can One Heart Take” doesn’t disappoint. The single features some great down-tuned guitars that allows for the band to explode out of the verses into a memorable hook found on the chorus. Lead singer Steven Dechausse commands the track immediately with a vocal approach that reminds me a lot of Bayside’s Anthony Raneri delivery. “The First Sip” quickly follows and features some great starts and stops to the beat to bring something new into the fold. What PlainView does best is hone in on their influences to scene legends and lean comfortably on their musical talents that support the music they set out to make.
”Completely Lonely” features an opening guitar riff even Silverstein would be jealous of, since it features a familiar tone and structure, but is still very much unique to this band. The mid-tempo song unfolds majestically as the band again rallies around their lead singer who never gets drowned out in the wall of sound. “Somehow” features some more great guitar work and interesting riffs that allow for PlainView to convey the wide range of emotions found on Nightlife. This is one of the few songs where vocalist Dechausse sounds slightly distant at first, but he brings himself back into the forefront of the mix in the pre-choruses and choruses. Its a subtle change from producer Mike Martenson, but it allows for each song to have its own identity.
Album closer “Feed From You” ends up being the quickest (in tempo) song on the EP and drummer Schroeder never gets lost in the sped-up song. In fact, he even brings a lot of cool and interesting drum fills when the tempo slows down just enough to bring his own variety to the mix.
Overall, I feel that fans that grew up in this scene will be able to take a lot of great things away from this EP, and PlainView may very well become one of those bands with the potential as the “next big thing” in the emo genre. They have all the tools you’d look for when creating a band for this genre, and I look forward to see them continue to grow based on the success of the sound they went for on Nightlife.