Album Reviews

Here’s one that risks getting lost in the holiday shuffle. Come Closer made quite the impression on this reviewer with their debut ‘Pretty Garbage’ when it came out in 2021. The San Diego-based band is back at it with ‘We Died With Print,’  out now on Fast Crowd Records, and somehow got even better.

Comprised of scene stalwarts J. Wang (Dan Padilla, Tiltwheel), Davey Quinn (also of Tiltwheel) and Chris Prescott (Pinback, Tanner), Come Closer dishes out 10 delicious slices of pop-punk meets jangly indie rock that will make you think of acts like Superchunk, Jawbreaker, Samiam, The Replacements (check out the riff in ‘Harsh Meadows’ for a tip of the hat to ‘Bastards Of Young’) among others. Those are some mighty big shoes to fill, but these guys make it seem easy.

Right from the start, it’s non-stop pop hooks, jangly guitars and solid drumming that makes the songs move forward. It’s not straight up punkrock, but they definitely rock out. They just do so in a more relaxed fashion. And it suits them well. Picking favorites here is hard, but the chugging ‘Closets’ and the organ-enhanced ‘$2 Tecate And Lime’ are strong contenders along with the short energy blast that is ‘Always Waiting’.  

We Died With Print track list:

1. Broken Glass
2. Closets    
3. Castle Walls    
4. Had it All    
5. $2 Tecate and Lime
6. Blue Eyes
7. Harsh Meadows    
8. Always Waiting    
9. Not Around
10. Talk About It