Self Released (2024)
Zonaea hail from South Carolina and have already won the award for the band name I mistype the most while trying to write something (it's the 'aea' at the end that keeps throwing me). The band reached out to me to send me an album to check out. While I don't imagine it'll end up being the sort of thing that I listen to repeatedly, it does check a very specific checkbox of a style of music that I do enjoy listening to from time to time.
Despite being from the southeast, it's really the pacific northwest that comes to mind when I listen to this album. It's brings me back to the mid 90s when I was checking out bands like godheadSilo, Karp and Unwound. While those aren't bands I listen to every day, they are bands that trigger a very specific nostalgia for a time where I was a bit lost and trying to figure out what I wanted to listen to.
The pounding, angular guitar riffs coupled with the slightly more gentle breakdowns is what reminds me the most of Unwound. The vocals are a tad bit shoutier than I usually prefer, but they're not so over the top to where there's no melody being conveyed. I tend to prefer the songs that are the closest to having conventional hooks. "Ditch" being a song that stands out in that regard. Though there's something to be said about the punishing guitar work in album opener "3's Become 4's." End of the day, it's a totally solid record that has moments where I get really drawn into what's going on. Again, not an everyday listen sort of thing, but certainly something I'd get out from time to time.
Zonaea - Zonaea:
https://zonaea.bandcamp.com/album/zonaea
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