Overpass

A cathartic set of high energy, yet unassuming, anthems, Texas trio Subset temper sunny harmonies with pensive melancholy. Neither genre defying nor genre defining, their highly melodic songwriting carefully balances indie pop and emo tendencies with more hard-edged guitar rock. While there is nothing particularly innovative or ambitious in their sound, the occasional xylophone, new wavey keyboard, or piano line do well to highlight their more commonplace tendencies. Stacking their songs full of memorable hooks, reflective mid-tempo tracks burst into shout-alongs and churning guitars swarm around each other, forming rolling sheets of dissonance. Tracks like "Antenna," "Anchor," and "Off to Pleasant Valley" hit on a winning formula, that of basically building no-frills indie rock on top of a solid foundation of big melodies and sincere sentiment.