We Are Trees - Girlfriend EP review

Do you secretly wish that all of those lo-fi bands you love so much would start caring what their music sounded like and make clearer recordings?  Are you too timid to say so because you're afraid you'll tarnish your indie-cred?  Fear not, Virginia Beach band We Are Trees get you out of this precarious predicament by providing some much needed HI-fidelity recordings.

We Are Trees are made up of vocals/guitarist James Nee and percussionist Josiah Schlater (and occasional violinist Rocky Capizzi).  The comparison between Nee's vocals and Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen is almost impossible to ignore, but We Are Trees develop a natural sounding record all their own. The record is crisp and clear and you can pick out all of the instruments.  One can easily hear how the elements of the song come together organically in airy, yet sonically lush compositions.

There is a delicacy present in each one of the tracks on the Girlfriend EP (which comes hot off the heels of their Boyfriend EP), with songs like "Teenage Heartbreak" and "Colorado" perfectly balancing yearning, apprehension and elation.  While the lyrical content of the Girlfriend EP is familiar territory, We Are Trees manage to show off their range by bending genres in virtually every song.  "You" is a sugary sweet, finger-picked folk song, while the EP closer "I Don't Believe In Love" is a reverb drenched pop tune that will have you humming along with all of the "whooo ooohs" from the get go.

James Nee's vocals are sweet and captivating, while the arrangements and instrumentation are invigorating and fresh.  In a genre where so many bands either take the lo-fi, fuzzy-buzzy approach or try and shoehorn synths and keyboards into every track, We Are Trees go back to the basics with shimmering anthems that show off their impressive talent.

You can listen to all of the tracks on We Are Trees Boyfriend EP here.
You can listen to all of the tracks on We Are Trees Girlfriend EP here.



We Are Trees - I Don't Believe in Love by This Music Wins

buy:
We Are Trees Girlfriend EP