Upstate New York indie-punk rockers E.R.I.E. recently announced The Highs, The Lows, And Everything In Between – a concept record in three EP-sized parts. The first chapter of this trilogy, THE HIGHS, arrived on Friday and is a tremendous jolt of energy into their already spirited catalog. It has all the qualities of a classic, no-frills pop-rock record that calls to mind elements of Against Me!, The Gaslight Anthem and The Menzingers.
“I asked myself what I would want to say if for some reason this was the last record I ever made,” vocalist TJ Foster remarks. “What came to mind was documenting life as an underground musician, navigating the ups and downs of this business. There are so many stories of grandeur and superstardom in rock n’ roll–I wanted to tell one about the rest of us, scaling an impossibly tall mountain via VFW halls, dirty basements and crowded minivans. Forever climbing, forever conquering obstacles, forever hungry for more.”
It is clear by this trilogy’s introduction that the band are as hungry as ever. THE HIGHS is available now on all major streaming platforms via Mint 400 Records. The band was also kind enough to take us through the EP one track at a time, which you can read below.
A LOT TO THINK ABOUT
[TJ Foster, Vocals/Guitar] This song was written as kind of a conversation with that little voice inside my head – the one that can negatively distract you from the inherent beauty that goes along with creating something. In today’s climate, it’s really easy to get caught up in the rat race of comparing yourself to what your peers are doing, and I wrote this song as a way to remind myself that, all things considered, where I’m at is okay. I may not be where I dreamt I’d be as a kid, but I’m still lucky enough to be writing and performing music on my own terms, and I need to remember that’s a win.
[Levi Jennes, Bass/Auxiliary Noises] The riff, those drums in the intro, man! Even though we were all there and played it, I still can’t believe it’s us making such huge sounds. We did a lot of woodshedding before hitting the studio, and that really gave us the confidence and freedom to just go for it when the day came. Truly a worthy first single!
OVER IT
[LJ] This was one of the first tunes that came together, and we were able to road test it a few times. The first time we played it live, you could feel the audience’s attention shift as this tune grabbed them, and reeled them in. It has so much bombast in the chorus, and you can feel us all collectively shouting into the void through our respective instruments as we play it.
[TF] It’s kind of a companion piece to “A LOT TO THINK ABOUT”. If that song was me trying to have a reasonable conversation with the negative voice in my head, this one is me telling it to piss off. I spent a lot of time this writing cycle dwelling on the “why”s – why keep doing this, why keep chasing, et cetera. At the end of the day, the answer was simple: nothing else fills me up, and even at its most challenging, I’m the best version of me when I’m doing it. So, this is me declaring I’m over trying to answer those questions and as long as I have the drive in me, I’ll keep doing it until there’s no fun left to be had.
HARD HEADED
[TF] This song is about live music, plain and simple. No matter how old I get, nothing beats standing in a sea of people as close to a stage as you can get. Sure, a spot in the seated section with a cold one feels much better on the aging bones the next day, but mentally there’s nothing more cathartic than being up where the action is. Except, perhaps, being the one on stage.
[LJ] This song asked, “What would Ace Frehley play in the intro, and how would he do it?” “A Les Paul into a Marshall, and an assload of bends!” and that’s what we did. Then we asked “How can we make this even more over the top?” Face melting solo? Stack as many “Hard Headed’s” on top of each other in the bridge? Let’s do it all! An indie rock band playing some bastard version of classic rock shouldn’t work, but it does. This one came together so quickly because it is so fun.
LEGACY ACT
[LJ] I love that this song starts with such a declaration, which also doubles as the hook. Lyrically, this song is a little more ambiguous than the rest of the EP; it can also serve as a treatise on relationships in general. “I hold a lot of light for you, Yea you rain for me when I need to bloom” could speak about our close intimate relationships just as much as the energy we get from playing music. Sonically, we stretched out into art noise territory on the bridge, torturing guitar strings instead of a traditional solo. I dare you to not sing along with that final chorus!
[TF] “LEGACY ACT” is a love letter to the ones that have supported me and my musical endeavors over the years, particularly my family. Sometimes I find it hard to be present, and a lot of the time, music is to blame for that. It’s true that the thing that fills you up can also be the thing that rids you of other important stuff. But I don’t ever want to be the person at home that’s just coasting through, “playing the hits”. So, this is my way of expressing some well-deserved gratitude.