There is an art to making music that feels almost exclusively forward-thinking yet still echoes with a distant shimmer of the past. It is that nugget of familiarity that lies at the music’s core, which makes Strains, the new EP from Space of a Day, land easily on the ear right from the first spin. All music is made by standing on the shoulders of giants, the giants here being ’90s alternative, hazy ’60s west coast vibes, and timeless pop-rock melodics, but it is what the band can see from such lofty heights that enables them to focus on building a sound for the future.
It’s an interesting move to open the ep with a remix of a track found later on the album, but when you compare the “Future #1 2026 remix” to the original, it does feel slightly leaner, slightly more accessible, the instrumentation treated to a bit more separation, and so not only the perfect opener but the perfect first single.
“Mendocino Punch” is widescreen and cinematic, a creative fingerprint that runs through all their music. But with the added spaciousness, the clever use of lulls and seamless changes in direction that balance the crescendos and occasional musical tidal waves that crash through, even greater dynamism is achieved. This due in no small part to Ben Trexel‘s soundscaping weaves of guitars and keyboards. And the icing on the cake, a cake that has already proven to have many succulent sonic layers, is Autumn Yatabe‘s often soaring, sometimes serene, vocals.
“Royal Kush,” again appearing first as a remix ahead of the original, cleverly blends a symphonic vibe often found only on the more progressive end of modern rock, but here balanced by a pop awareness that tempers its more ornate urges. (Although if the band ever chose to unleash their inner prog, they would be serious challengers to the generic crown.)
As “Blue Dream” heads off, there is an almost 80’s dance feel to the beat, drummer Daniel Colye showing that as well as the powerful and punchy, he is just as capable at the consistent and the rhythmically hypnotic. This reductive yet revelatory core beat all the more noticeable for the minimal sounds and delicate textures the band wraps around this new groove. By the time the additional vocals have joined the fray and the guitars are growling in the background, a new style of dream-rock has been initiated.
What I love about Strains is the boundaries and borders it wantonly crosses to find its optimum sound. It is, at its core, an alt-rock record, but one that balances delicacy and drive, has as much grace as it has groove. And if genres are still your thing, you will find many vying for control – rock energy, pop contagion, indie chops and growling guitars, dreamy spaciousness and piledriver riffs, and as I said before, thankfully, they have a vocalist able to run this broad sonic spectrum, the highs and lows, the whispers and the maelstrom musicality as required.
And for every nod to the past, there are many sure-footed and determined steps into the future. Revolution might be fine if short-lived shock tactics are your thing, but this is the sound of music evolving, not just naturally but beautifully and effortlessly too.
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