Space Cadets - "We Deserve Better" (EP Review)

By Sean McCall | Posted Sunday, October 14, 2018

Space Cadets is a two-piece emo/math rock band from Mount Holly, New Jersey. The band consists of Jarrett Wenzel on Drums/Vocals, and Matt Trinkle on Guitar. We Deserve Better is Space Cadets’ second EP release. The record was recorded by Matt Bogacki at Blue Light Digital Sound and was released in June of 2017. They have CDs and currently have 5 cassettes available (courtesy of Cheap Plastic Records). 

The record opens with “New Vermont” which is a purely melodic and vulnerable song. Lyrically, it seems to discuss an internal struggle of stress and your mental health. "I can't lie to you, but I've been trying to, and I might go through with it, ‘cause I'm sick of wanting to die, every single time the stress hits.” I think this is discussing the ability to make a choice and be open in communication versus trying to lie; the temporary fix. This can bottle up and the stress can start to feel like too much, and this song covers that perfectly in a minute and a half. 

The record transitions seamlessly into “Vanilla,” where the drums are introduced with a sad jazzy-sounding melodic guitar. The beginning seems to be reminiscing moments of admiration with a loved one, followed by coping with them moving away and the hardships of moving on. It picks up to a mathy beat and instrumental break where it transitions to a much more emotional and dreamy vibe. I love the rhythm throughout this entire song because it seems like you hear something new with each time you listen. Whether it be a ghost note, or hi-hat accent, it’s always super tasteful. Musically, I think this is my favorite song on the record.

The third song on the record, “Disconnecting,” is hands down one of the catchiest and most "finger-pointy” songs. The chorus is a jammer that speaks for itself: "3 years takes its toll on me I can't be everything I know you need, I'm not taking this lightly, but I can't help you when no one’s helping me.” My finger is aggressively pointing through the entirety of this chorus. That’s all you need to know; its a great time. 

The last song on the record is called “In the Shirt You Gave Me,” and it continues with the theme of heartbreak of 3 years. This track essentially wraps up the entire theme of We Deserve Better. The transitions and dynamics are artistic and charming to the ear. My favorite part is the ending— almost breakdown—which closes the record perfectly. 

This record is short, sweet, and powerful. Overall, it just gives me a feeling of genuinity and vulnerability. Their following and most recent EP, Coming Along Slowly, was released in July and is definitely something you should check out as well. It’s a solid follow-up to this record. 

Jarrett’s input on the record is stated on Space Cadet’s bandcamp:

"There's been a lot of changes in my life over the past few months. The week before I recorded the vocals, we had a completely different record lyrically. Some things can change so quickly, when you least expect it. However, I think that's where this EP came from—honesty in the moment. In that week before I recorded vocals, I re-wrote 75% of the lyrics because the original ones were no longer relevant to my life. The past few months have been hard, but this band and this EP have kept me going. I hope these songs speak to you in some way. hope they help you as much as they've helped me."

~

We Deserve Better is available for streaming/download at:

Bandcamp: https://spacecadetsnj.bandcamp.com/album/we-deserve-better

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7MkXUOx99xBOcPBAdLtm2M

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist…

Apple Music: https://itun.es/us/ASlEkb

and more.

Space Cadets - "Coming Along Slowly" (EP Review)

By Sean McCall | Posted Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Coming Along Slowly is an EP by the South Jersey band Space Cadets.  They are a two-piece emo/math rock band from Mount Holly, NJ, featuring vocalist/drummer Jarrett Wenzel and guitarist Matt Trinkle.  The album starts with luscious and melodic guitars in the first track, “Angel.” Jarrett Wenzel pulls at the heartstrings with this song that seems to be talking about believing in a relationship between two human beings.  Although going through hardships, he says, “But you’re the sweetest, kindest, most perfect human being,” which really hit me personally.  The song ends with “I hope you believe in me” with the softest vocals and all the music cutting out at the end. 

The soft clean tones and horns continue in the second song, “Slowly,” which features South Jersey band Regrown (Kyle Lloyd & Ben Greenblatt).  The song is very melodic and beautiful.  It ends with Regrown featuring on the emotional outro, “I’m sorry I put you through this, I just want to be forgiven.” 

The third song, “DIY Machine Broke,” really hits home for me.  The song discusses the hardship of being a musician as well as a human being.  To me, they’re trying to say that we are all human; we make mistakes.  Yet, the anxiety of being a disappointment in someone else’s life can sometimes overwhelm you easily.  At the end of the day, at least they’re doing what they love -- creating art and music.

Moving onto the fourth song, “Committing” (which features Luke Knoblauch from South Jersey), they continue the theme of the hardships of life becoming overwhelming.  They close the song with, “Can’t be an excuse, fix the problem at the room, let’s all agree to do the things we said we’d always do,” which seems to imply connection amongst community to make everybody feel a little more at peace.

The record closes with the song “Balcony.”  Like the rest of the record, this one is just as emotional and discusses the fear of losing loved ones.  I really love the percussive hip-hop samples on top of the tasteful jazz cords and emotional melodies.  They also include some very beautiful intervals in their “ooo’s” while reintroducing the horns to close off the record. 

I’ll be honest, this EP left me wanting more from the band, which in my opinion is exactly what an artist should aim to achieve.  I really enjoyed the overall consistency of the theme of the record.  I believe a sense of community amongst your peers and working as a team will always get you further towards happiness and further in life in general.  According to their Bandcamp, they planned to record a full-length prior to their summer tour, however, they realized they wanted to put something out before touring and created this EP almost spontaneously.  See what the vocalist, Jarrett Wenzel said about the record, below:

“A little while ago, I got an idea for what has become our newest EP.  Earlier this year we had been writing songs for a full-length and planning our summer tour.  Around April, we realized it had been a year since we put anything out, and that our summer run wouldn’t be in support of new music.  So my idea was to write and record an EP with little-to-no preparation.  We had about 4-6 weeks to write the songs and coordinate things with the featured musicians, but most of the writing was done in the two weeks prior to the dates.

I brought everyone (aside from Matt) into the studio without parts written or without knowing exactly what was going to happen.  We never got together beforehand.  There was so much room for failure but not once did I feel like it was a bad idea.  I just believed in it wholeheartedly.  I didn’t explain this more than briefly to anyone, I just kind of did it and made sense of the process along the way.  I am so proud of what happened.  I can’t thank my wonderful friends enough for lending me their time and patience throughout the recording process.  I certainly could never thank them enough for being in my life.  I would like to think that all of this is a metaphor for believing in yourself/your peers and being completely blown away by the outcome -- but who knows, maybe I’m just a sap and our EP sucks!  In all seriousness though, have some faith, my friends.  You just might surprise yourself."

-- Jarrett Wenzel