Squid The Whale is a Detroit, Michigan quartet who self proclaims both their purposely progressive musicality and their espousal of the “DIY” mentality and lifestyle. Their second release, New War, is the follow up to their June, 2010 effort, A Worrisome Voyage Through Inclement Weather. The four-song EP is quick, compact, and cohesive. It plays more like a single thematic idea with various movements than it does an issuance of four separate, unique compositions.

New War comes out swinging unabashedly with “The Greatest Way,” which establishes the overarching musical trends found on the record. A toe-tapper from the beginning, the track is rhythmically erratic, with drummer Jonathan Wagoner filling and transitioning competently between funk, dance, and hard rock grooves; vocalist Bradley Walden shines from the outset of the EP with a coarse yet undeniably soulful full-voice and a smooth, forceful falsetto. Throughout New War, Walden channels some decidedly R&B roots and proves himself a consummate frontman, letting his vocal performance soar over his band’s complimentary parts without allowing the two to drag each other down in any tangible way. The album’s first track also sets the trend of overt guitar work which is almost too present in the mix, leading one to wonder just how “DIY” Squid The Whale decided to go with their recording process.

The second track on the record, “Gentleman,” starts with some tasteful guitar effects and softer vocals before dropping into a decidedly heavier verse. The song transitions between straightforward and more rhythmic grooves, building immensely in the bridge before dropping out to reveal some tasteful, funky guitar riffing. The “white boy funk” continues in “Tennessee,” which begins with some haunting, arpeggiated “6/8” guitar chords and ballad-oriented vocals before rushing headlong into a fast-paced, heavier composition. (The transition itself recalls the beginning of Chiodos’ “I Didn’t Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was A Wizard”.) “Tennessee” also provides us an exceptionally funky bridge that sounds almost like something Envy On The Coast would play.

Wrapping up the album is the musically-surprising “Drown,” which begins with a bit of film noir-sounding, static-laden piano, accompanied by some truly creepy, overdubbed laughter; the song then transitions into an unexpectedly tranquil acoustic piece, throughout which Bradley Walden’s vocals become gradually more forceful and deliberate. On the chorus, he croons: “Even if the low is much too low // Even if the high is high (oh) // Don’t jump, I’ll drown,” alternating between his more coarse full-voice and a well-executed falsetto.

In all, New War purveys an overarchingly cohesive piece of composition that cements its performers within the canon of what this reviewer has chosen to dub “alt-white boy funk,” a genre that betrays the inherent interconnectedness of the alternative scene in its channeling of bands like Envy On The Coast, some Bone Palace Ballet-era Chiodos, Anarbor, and Closure in Moscow. The ever-present musical trends that emerge between bands in this canon consist of overtly skillful drummers who aren’t shy about flexing their rhythmic muscles, adept frontmen who consistently stray into their falsetto range around generically R&B melodic lines, and purposed musical nuance and dissonance—chord progressions that tiptoe around traditional pop lines and vary themselves by including some minor or diminished chords instead of what the listener would normally expect out of a pop progression. New War is all about these tenets, which seems to imply some reluctance in branching out of familiar musical conventions but fails to stop Squid The Whale from offering a consummately tasteful and funky body of work.

★★★☆☆

*This review was composed by Paul Adler