EP Review: PlainView - Nightlife

WORDS BY JAZMIN LEMUS

Michigan-based alternative/post-hardcore band, PlainView, released their new EP, Nightlife, earlier this month. To preface the rundown of the EP, I can tell you that if you’ve never heard of this band and you decide to give them a listen, you might be reminded of The Used, Saosin, Silvertein, Story of the Year, Hawthorne Heights, and maybe even Anberlin.

The 5-track EP starts with “How Much Break Can One Heart Take”. There are cleans vocals mostly throughout the song, with some screaming kicking in at around 1:10. Right away, this song reminded me of vocal arrangements done by Hawthorne Heights, where there are mostly clean vocals with the occasional scream. “The First Sip” is filled with clean vocals and at this point, it’s hard to find a way to compare vocalist, Steven Dechausse’s voice, to anybody else’s in the scene. One other point to be made about this song is that it’s radio friendly, but current and future fans might find this song to be a deep cut down the line. Regardless of how it’s seen, it will still be a fan favorite.

The third track on Nightlife is “Completely Lonely”. Sung with clean vocals, there is still some screaming. Instrumentally, you may be reminded of Hawthorne Heights. When it comes to vocal arrangements, you will also be reminded of Hawthorne Heights. “Somehow” is that song that follows and it does feature a little bit of screaming, but some listeners may still consider it radio friendly as they may detect a 30 Seconds To Mars sound flowing in there. And if you’re a fan of Saosin, you’ll hear some of their sound in this song too!

To wrap up Nightlife, PlainView ends it with “Feed From You”. In this song you will hear the Saosin sound previously mentioned and additionally, if you’re a fan of Silverstein, you may hear some sounds from their songs “Broken Stars” and “The Afterglow” when it comes to vocal and music arrangement. I really don’t know if there’s a better way to put it other than that. If you’re a fan of Saosin AND Silverstein, you’re in for a banger at the end of Nightlife!

While the bands that were mentioned in the introduction have been in the game since the early 2000s (with some going through a hiatus or a breakup), some fans may think that the sound went away or may have thought years ago that it wouldn’t stick around. When festivals that have been around for years (e.g. Coachella) announce their annual lineup, there are people that make comments online about how they’re old because they don’t know a lot of the bands or they just don’t recognize any of the bands. To those comments, others will reply saying that people should give new bands a listen and not expect festivals to continue to book artists they’ve booked in the past. Well, I’ll use this opportunity to say, if you like any of the bands that were previously mentioned in this review, please consider giving PlainView a listen. They’re just one of many young bands trying to keep the scene alive.

You can stream Nightlife HERE.