The collective voice of the Californian scene seems more prevalent than ever, with a wealthy plethora of bands setting the standards for the other regional contemporaries to try and attain. Stanley And The Search are just one of the many impenetrable spokes of the wheel that seems to have also set this trail. San Gabriel Valley's Stanley And The Search tread onto new and unpathed ground with their first official releases and debut record, gracing listeners with a mesh of melodies coupled with a social support of fast-paced angst and, at times, subtle charming tones.
Opener Clear Skies is cinematic and almost apt as the appregiated rings reverberate through your core and distorts your previous attention and grasps and thrusts you into the inevitable experience as you listen to the record unravel in illustrative ways. From the get-go the band show an incredible ability to imprint melodies within a rhetoric of conviction as vocalist Chris Castillo pulls at your strings making you sing "Clear skies from here and we have bottled up all our hopes and fears...", evoking the empathetic notion of hope.
Stanley And The Search sit comfortably within their nest, formed from the grit of the twinges of a '90s Punk influence such as No Use For A Name and Strung Out together with the softer tweaks of The Starting Line, which is evident throughout the record. The record is also layered by a majestic Pop sensibility which is smoothed over the ridges, being a testament of their self-acclaim as Punk/Pop. The softer pop sensibility is heightened astronomically in the shades of vocalist Chris Castillo’s voice that never ceases to put on a heart-snatching performance, offering a memorable voice from the plethora of contemporaries. This is poignant within tracks such as the first single, Chin Up, and Sick And Tired, where the harmonies assume a resonance which clings. It's incredible to think that with a first strike at a release like this, Stanley And The Search already seem to yield a mastery of the chemistry over the nuances of songwriting.
Other bright moments within the record present when the band reel the listeners even closer, showing a broad scope of musicianship through an acknowledgement and commemoration of elements of other styles. This is evident in Sometimes, where the first half of the track strays towards the authenticity of Motown with Doo-Wop chugs and silky melodies. Until the second half explodes as Castillo spits "Endless nights of being cold, I’m wide awake as the fear keeps pounding...", showing the listener the vast difference from the sugary hooks into a terrain of tension.
Another example is Anchors showing a stripped and bare nature of the band, which reveals their artistry in a more intimate way. The vocals ricochet off each other as they narrate a melancholic tale of striving when in times of turmoil. It's hard not to get lost in what seems like the most enchanting bittersweet sentiment as "Are we coming back again, our hearts are still bound to the sea...", lingers perfectly.
Stanley And The Search's record stands as best as a debut record could ever hope to. Every aspect of this record is poised perfectly to arouse empathy and an intangible sensation, stirred by its musical textures. From the sounds of the creaking door in closer Shoulda Coulda, opening the door to what was previously the raging thrilling entity of the band to the hypnotic textbook woahs and closing interplay of vocal hooks, Stanley And The Search show precision wherever feasible as far as first strikes go with this encapsulating effort.
Tracklist:
1. Clear Skies
2. Smear Campaign
3. Chin Up
4. Fake Friends
5. Sick And Tired
6. Sometimes
7. Follow In Line
8. Suddenly
9. Anchors
10. Shoulda Coulda
Rating:
Written by Aaron Akerdolu
