EP Review: 1744 by New Tree

By: Stephen Wilkins

Originally published January 30, 2018, by Plasma Magazine 

New Tree’s first EP 1744, released last August, smacks you in the face with a psychedelic backhand right before it carries you off into hardcore groove filled with bursting reverb vocals, massive synth and a catchy melody that will have you cruising with the windows down. New Tree is made up of Matt Boone on vocals, guitar, synthesizer, John Scherer on guitar, Griffin Dangler on bass, and Carter Nilson on drums.

On 1744 the quartet walks a fine line between having a throwback sound and a futuristic spaciness that feels fresh enough to call their own. They formed back in 2015 and released their first single, ‘Enough,’ in July 2017 which, serves as the debut track on 1744.

‘Swept Away,’ the second track, takes a step back beginning with single chords picked slowly before it sweeps the listener into another dreamscape. Sonically the record brings a feeling of weightlessness allowing the drums to push you farther down the rabbit hole when they come in.

‘I Don’t Care About It’ sounds like a b-side to Sonic the Hedgehog in the best way. It is also the most rock n roll they get on the entire EP. The final track ‘Waffles’ is the moonlit night that resides in opposition to the bright dream pop of the rest of the release.

New Tree is onto something here with this debut EP. It’s a sonic world wind that has the pop sensibility to be catchy and experimental enough to be interesting. They aren’t reinventing the wheel but they are putting rocket gear on it and blasting it into outer space. You can catch them February 22nd at Union EAV and February 28th at Mammal Gallery! Be sure to check out them out on Bandcamp and Spotify.