By Mitch Tousley
New American Gothic is one of the most exciting bands in the Utah scene. The bandmates met through mutual friends and only in a year’s time since the band’s inception they are making quite a splash. With a win at the Boardwalk’s battle of the bands under their belts and other notable live performances in Utah’s mainstay local venues, New American Gothic has inserted themselves into a core lineup of bands in the area in a remarkably short time.
As someone who was there for their preliminary performance at the Boardwalk Spring 2023 Battle of the Bands that the band would end up taking the winning title from, I was able to see firsthand the band’s refreshing take on punk music. In a scene where many bands opt to play it safe with their sound, NAG takes risks that set them apart. From the cool and underplayed vocal delivery, fuzzy guitars, and bombastic drums, NAG has crafted a sound that is noisy yet controlled. Their self-titled debut EP shows this balance of the raw and the refined across its three tracks.
The EP opens with “New Soul So Huge,” an energetic banger with riffs that sound like a METZ record, which turned into a blues jam that was then sampled and looped. Its repetition is never stale. The drums bring incredible energy, and the vocalist’s interjections – which are decorated with evolving reverbs and delays – provide variation to this opening motif.
The second track, “Brimstone Baby,” opens with a monstrous chord like something you’d hear on a Chat Pile record. This groove built around this low, menacing chord is short lived as it is interrupted by a driving and danceable groove. But, like the preceding song, it evolves into a fully different soundscape by its concluding moments.
“One Hundred Thousand Dollars” sees the band at their most diverse, channeling rapid-fire guitar licks, shining vocals, and triumphant drums at the beginning. We then find them seamlessly transitioning into the band’s softest moment yet, with washed out vocals, softer drums, and Tom Morello-esque guitar chops. This juxtaposition of the soft and loud is reminiscent of classic bands like Nirvana and the Pixies, and is just as effective now as it was in the ’90s.
Across all of these tracks, the vocalist’s lyrics offer a variety of interpretations. They are often buried by the boisterous instrumentation, so they often require repeat, close listening to get a clear read. I’m still trying to decide what I make of the lyrical themes the band may be trying to communicate, but I’ve found the process of listening and re-listening incredibly rewarding, and I’d encourage anyone reading this article to do the same.
In short, New American Gothic’s debut EP demonstrates an incredible ability to synthesize a variety of influences into a cohesive project that is a breath of fresh air in a rock scene that is often prone to going stale. The record is contaminated with original musical ideas, interesting lyrics, and thoughtful songwriting.
My only point of critique that I’d like to see the band avoid in the future is how conservative the mix is. The project is excellently recorded, but the mix sounded thin and is considerably quiet. Considering that the band was able to sound as ferocious and dynamic as they did with this mix, it stands as a testament to how good they are. I wonder how much more ferocious they would’ve sounded if they had cranked up the volume and given some more low-end to the final result.
New American Gothic is a fresh band with a lot of youthful energy to offer. The ideas of dynamic contrast, structural variety, and blending the loud and the understated are all explored on this project. This debut EP is a testament to their creativity and I hope to see a lot more from them in the near future.
Don’t forget to follow New American Gothic on Instagram! You can listen to “One Hundred Thousand Dollars” from their self-titled EP below.