Album Review Festivals News

Review:: Outgrown Things | Movements

I’ve always liked how Fearless Records handle their new signees. Where major labels will sometimes sign bands to deals off of the strength of a single, the independent Fearless has been known to have their rookies release EPs before delving into full-length territory. I don’t know why I like it so much, but I do. Maybe it’s because I don’t see it very much (though, if other labels are doing it too, I apparently don’t notice) or maybe
it’s because it’s a way of testing the water, who knows.

One thing that I do know is that, more often than not, these previews are a look at some of the best up-and-coming bands out there. This time around, with Orange County
four-piece Movements, we could be getting our first taste at something special.

The short EP quickly gets things moving, with a sharp guitar intro to “Kept” turning the ignition. Vocalist Patrick Miranda’s voice is a seamless mix of clean and gritty, with heavy screams woven in and out between softer vocals. With the open, storytelling penmanship and vocals that are at times more spoken-word than singing, Movements are sure to draw up comparisons to La Dispute or mewithoutYou.

Midway through, Outgrown Things hits its highest mark. Each member gives a highlight performance – Cressey’s basswork rumbles heavily along beneath Miranda’s strongest lyricism on the release, which is saying something for a release with better-than-average songwriting throughout. I don’t often pull individual lines out from songs to discuss, but with the combination of the words and their deliveries, a few struck me like lightning:
“I guess I’ve always slept better in an empty bed.”
“Hang me in the closet with the rest of your outgrown things”
“A thousand miles and I still feel you like the thorn in my side / Running from my problems never worked, but I’m still lengthening my stride.”

On “Vacant Home,” Miranda sings a line that encapsulates the release as a whole. Looped in the background, he pleads “this vulnerability has left my struggling.” But it’s that vulnerability and that struggle that makes Outgrown Things such a success. The doubt and the questioning and all of those negative, introspective emotions carry weight during every second here. Whether it’s the worry that vision is always better in hindsight, or trying to force shattered pieces to fit together, the openness here is the real strength.

I can’t say for sure what or when we’ll be hearing from Movements next, but with what they’ve delivered on Outgrown Things, I’m confident that it won’t disappoint. We’re
pretty early into 2016, but we may have just been introduced to one of the
year’s best new bands.

Release Date: March 11th, 2016
Rating: 3.85/5
Run Time: ~20 minutes
Check Out: “Worst Wishes,” “Nineteen,” “Hatchet”

Movements.png

Track listing:
1. “Kept”
2. “Nineteen”
3. “Worst Wishes”
4. “Hatchet”
5. “Vacant Home”
6. “Losing Fight”

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: