Album Review: STILL EIGHTEEN – SCARRED

Canadian outfit STILL EIGHTEEN is very much a family affair, with mother, father, and daughter performing the earth-shaking alt-rock of their SCARRED EP.

It may be stripped down sonically – often just rhythm section, drums, and vocals – but it’s what the band does with those elements over three songs that makes it thrilling and, at times, emotionally challenging.  

Opener Daddy can be a hard listen, but when placed in context as inspired by the poetry of Sylvia Plath, the prose of the lyrics acquires an air of poignancy that adds to the emotional intensity of not just the words, but also the unsparing passion of the vocal performances.

It’s followed by I Want Someone Like You, which verges on being a traditional love song, but instead focuses on love lost, as it goes through a cycle beginning with grief and ending with acceptance and a hint of redemption. The shift in tone from Daddy isn’t a huge one, yet the trio temper the song with resonances of Heart’s 1970s output.

Closing track The Fire’s Still Burning looks to a similar era, a time of wars and protests that have become history, keeping that Canadian theme in how it has echoes of Neil Young’s music of that era, but also the solo work of John Fogerty.

SCARRED takes from the past and reworks those influences to take the listener on a series of sonic and lyric excursions that have a familiarity to them while sadly remaining very, if not increasingly, current.

The EP is out now and can be streamed on YouTube Music and Spotify – for further listening options, follow the band on Facebook and Instagram. STILL EIGHTEEN embark on an extensive European tour this month, with dates announced in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. For ticket and venue details, head to Bandsintown.