By Joe Metro
To fully prepare myself to write this review, I traveled back in time to the year 2017 to ensure that my brother and his wife met, fell in love, and had my two nephews. That’s right, we’re talking about the Glue Crew again with their sad music for cool uncles, and I happen to be the coolest motherh*ckin uncle around.
Glue Coast is up there for my favorite bands in the scene. If you haven’t gone to one of their shows, then you haven’t yet experienced the rabblerousing the Glue Crew puts on. If you live in Utah County, then it’s unsurprising you haven’t been able to make it up to a show. They notoriously hate Provo and love making me drive to SLC. This is a plea. I need more Utah County shows. Especially with the gas prices that we have.
Stepping off my soapbox now and getting back to the rabblerousing, the brouhaha, if you will. Sam Bradford, frontman and lead sad boy of the crew, always lets people know that their set is fast, emo, sad music, so be ready for dancing and moshing.
Douglas is a great sophomore EP. It carries the momentum of (yeehaw), and builds upon it as Glue Coast solidifies their claim as the best pseudo-ska, midwest (mountainwest?) emo band in the state. Matching their previous EP, Douglas comes in at 5 beautiful tracks that I have spent a lot of time enjoying.
“Super Mario Capecchi” starts the EP with a lot of energy. I believe they have been using this song as their show opener for a while as well. At least, I think they did when I saw them at Kilby Court. The bridge is my favorite part of this song. You get harmonies with Thelonious “Thermo” Linford and a fantastic trombone from Alex Shipley. It gets the crowd entertained early and shows what the Glue Crew does best: make a lot of noise and make you feel sad about it.
The next track, “Treasure Tokens,” has a special place in my heart. Not only is it named after a resource from Magic, the Gathering, a game I play with the Glue Crew, but the band also released a special acoustic demo of the song per my request as a thank you for having them in my top 5 artists for my 2024 Spotify Wrapped.
They first released the song on cassette with the rest of (yeehaw) and then on streaming platforms last year. With the digital release, they blessed me again by asking for my help designing the cover art for the single. If you listen closely to the cassette and digital versions, you can hear Sam say, “Thanks, Joe.” All of that aside, it’s a sad song, and you should give it a listen.
“Big Body, Big Feelings” resonates with me as a big boy who wears his heart on his sleeve. Thermo puts his heart and soul into this song. You can absolutely feel the anguish and pain in these lyrics. Anyone who has ever been self-conscious can relate to the words he sings. The vulnerability that Thermo has in this song speaks volumes. Please listen to it. Towards the end of the song, Thermo goes into the chorus with this guttural, from the depths of his soul, “I GOT A BIG BODYYY, BIG FEELINGS” and it f*tching rocks, dude. Alex gives us the best trombone solo here, and I think everyone should know and go listen to it.
“Perry” tells a story that is not mine to share the context of. But if you have ever gone through something traumatic and years later think back on it and say to yourself, “Huh, that was pretty messed up,” then this song is the embodiment of that feeling. Sam does an incredible job singing this very sad song. Once you start listening to the lyrics, it’ll make your blood boil.
“Boba” matches “Super Mario Capecchi” in vibes and intensity. The lead guitar melody is probably my favorite from the EP. It’s such a head bob that makes you want to jump around and dance. The bridge slaps like crazy. The five crew boys: Sam Bradford, Thermo Linford, Raul Ochoa, Alex Shipley, and Blake Smith feel so in the pocket on this song. It might be my favorite on Douglas, but that’s also a hard decision to make, so stop asking me about it.
The one and probably only criticism I have of Douglas is that I believe “Boba” should open the EP and “Super Mario Capecchi” should close it. I think they both work well as either openers or closers, but the way that “Super Mario Capecchi” is written feels like it would fit better at the end. The song is nearly six minutes long, which is completely fine, but halfway through the song, we get the bridge, and it feels like we are ending soon. But there’s a resurgence, and it goes back into the chorus. I love it, but that feels a lot more appropriate as a closer to go out big on than it does as an opener.
Other than that, this is a fantastic EP and has a solid slot for me as one of my favorite releases from a band in the scene. Please do yourself a favor and try to catch a show of theirs. Even if you have to drive up to Salt Lake to do so.
Check Glue Coast out on Instagram! Listen to their song “Big Body, Big Feelings” below.