When heading to a Vans Warped Tour, everyone is always searching for their new favorite band. Perhaps, in 2016, one of those discovered by hungry music lovers was a little band called The New Low. Hailing from the beautiful city of Salt Lake City, Utah, The New Low, consisting of Garrett Garfield on vocals, Hiram Hernandez on guitar, Christopher Kim on guitar, Fletcher Howell on bass and vocals, and Corey Beaver on drums transitioned from the name Hearts & Hands. Combining Alternative Metal styling with some Pop Punk flair, The New Low were in fact featured on 2016’s Vans Warped Tour, and the consensus from spectators was this band has something special. Capping off the exciting summer, they dropped their debut album, entitled Continuance, via Razor & Tie Records on July 22nd and continue to gain attention.
A mix of harmonious melodies, power riffs, ballad-esque and angst-fueled screams, as well as an ultimate positive vibe are present throughout the 10 tracks which make up the album. Beginning with “Get What You Give,” this song goes from 0-60 with Beaver’s double beat accompanied by Kim and Hernandez’s grinding guitars, but it is Howell’s bass that shines as Garfield’s vocals deftly express the life lesson. Piggy-backing from there comes “Get What You Give” and the single “Burning Bridges,” which is the first taste of The New Low the mainstream world received with their music video garnering over 100, 000 views via YouTube. Quite a first impression, the single’s driving beat and Garfield’s lyrics deliver an urgency that pierces as he sings about doing people right, or the consequences will be dire.
Thereafter on “Move Along,” the band brings the anthemic style full-force with another urgent melody that is guitar/drum-driven with a message about making changes if certain situations of relationships are toxic. Keeping the feeling personal, “My Own Way” comes in rocking assertively yet melodically as the drums break in heavy. The tune soars and grinds alternately in this piece of choosing to make one’s own path and then others will follow.
Marking the record’s halfway point, “Afraid” cues up a power ballad that has an ethereal reverberation, even as it opens up at the chorus before drawing back into itself, then, opening back up to the finish in this piece of the uncertainty of life. Picking up the tempo, “Break Free” sonically sweeps in with a complex beat that mirrors the theme of the tune of getting away from “safe” into the unknown to become an individual.
Saving the album’s title-track, “Continuance,” for the back-end, it is an upbeat, hard-hitting piece with double-time beats that push forward as the guitars serve as a war cry and Garfield sings about rising like a phoenix from life’s ashes. More mellow, “Start Over” features Garfield’s pleading vocals coming clean with the melody. A stripped down piece, there is an overwhelming sadness as the guitar weeps gently. With only two songs remaining, “Momento Mori” has an X-Files vibe as the instrumental plays through to the abrupt finish in the last 2 minutes. Finishing Continuance is the flipside of “Afraid,” and it is called “Not Afraid.” A wonderful cohesion to a theme, it the hardest track and rightfully so with the drums coming in full-force as the guitars seem to hold the note infinitely while Garfield sings about fessing up to screw ups and not being afraid to carry on.
Getting a cohesive band together and getting an album out, much less a major label album, is no easy task. The New Low has managed to pull it off with a fun, positive message that will resonate with anybody who has lived life at any stage of the game. There is a line from Batman Begins (2005) that says,“Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.” The New Low conveys that sentiment powerfully with Continuance. CrypticRock gives Continuance 5 out of 5 stars.
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