HIGHER GIANT – “The First Five”
Of the few musical truisms that I guide my life, few are as reliable as my affinity for the music of Ernie Parada. From TOKEN ENTRY to BLACK TRAIN JACK to GREY AREA to THE ARSONS, and now HIGHER GIANT, Parada’s bands never disappoint. Sounding little different than Parada’s last two bands, HIGHER GIANT is a continuation of bright melodic punk rock with occasionally hardcore flavoring. Joining Parada in HIGHER GIANT is well-known drummer Dave Wagenschutz (LIFETIME, GOOD RIDDANCE), Jason Lehrhoff on guitars (WARZON, GREY AREA), and Alex Volonino (THE ARSONS) on bass. This five song EP covers a lot of terrain in its brisk 14 minutes. Opener “Friday the 13th,” and closer “Dangerous” are beautiful sing-anthems, while the EP’s centerpiece, “The Dealer” draws open the band’s hardcore bloodlines. Parada’s moderately nasal singing style sounds as youthful as ever and still dripping with buckets of sincerity (just like the entirety of GREY AREA’s still-awesome Fanbelt Algebra). The down-tempo tune “The Well” is the only curveball that HIGHER GIANT has to offer as the song drifts into bog-like stillness before Wagenschutz rescues with his trademark mashing of the skins. All is right when the energy of “The Dealer” bleeds into the remaining nine minutes. HIGHER GIANT last played a show in May, and its unlikely that this band will be all that busy in the future, but a new EP is on the horizon, and that is definitely something I’m going to be pining for. Get this!
(CD and digital – Creep Records / Vinyl on Runner Up Records)
