Review: On Their New EP, 'Bad Times,' Stay Here Pushes Their Sound Further with a Healthy Dose of Real-Life Cynicism.

Stay Here has accessed a new level of songwriting due to the unexpected realism of their new EP, Bad Times. They tell you not to judge a book by its cover, but Stay Here may be saying the opposite. This new EP feels like it has seen some shit. It blends the upbeat tones we’re familiar with, then flips scripts with minor falls that push a dagger of reality into your ears. With the single they dropped before the EP, God’s Gift; Stay Here certainly carried the energy to lead me to believe this was going to be all killer.

I’m sort of used to the looming spirit of optimism in their lyrics, like a college freshman on their first day. It was a moment that you wanted to hold onto, but a soft acceptance of letting go of youth. Digging Up Your Grave opens up the EP and is an end to the initial positive tenacity Stay here naturally approaches with. It’s a dose of familiarity for fans before taking you on the real ride. The band does a great job of letting us down softly with the order of the songs. As it progresses, the guitars opt for a more shoegazey and chord driven base. We can take deeper looks into their use of sustained and augmented chords, but ultimately, I believe it just took a dose of some real-life cynicism to push deeper. 

A real earworm is God’s Gift, a real shift from the band’s overall sound. It opens with a gut punch grungy riff and eventually builds into a chorus that would make some nu-metal bands jealous that they didn’t write it. The song is very unapologetic in nature, going for soaring guitar solos rather than the soft bridges.  The mix work from Corey Bautista shines in these big mixes and pushes the aggressive energy further. 

This is an interesting and cool shift for the group, and I personally hope the streak continues. The sound is more grown up, and more demanding in its intention. After opening the book, I can agree. It’s all killer. EPs get used for album throwaways constantly, but Stay Here called it a warning shot. The “Bad Times” are always seasonal, but I genuinely hope they hire this sound full-time. It’s a genuine workhorse and while it isn’t always cheeky, it will get the job done.