What About Flowers?, the new Snarls EP that was produced by Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie), shines in solitude, asks questions of absences and pulses with the rhythm of the Pacific Northwest In the year-plus since Burst, their debut record, the band has scaled their emotional intelligence to match their growth off-mic. Rolling Stone describes their sound as “glitter-pop hooks with brushes of millennial melodramaâ€. Stereogum labeled them as the “Band to watchâ€. What About Flowers? opens with “Fixed Gear†that goes from worry to weightlessness. Paste perfectly describes it as a “wonderful ping-ponging..evoking the cheerful pop interplay and juxtaposed vocal melodies of The Beths.†The next track, “For Youâ€, moves the listener from a tender moment into a tortured one. “If Only,†the closer track, is another ghostly expression of tension and release—when the band lets up for air, the lyrics are choked by confusion and loneliness. The floating understanding of wanting to be together and missing the things that make one whole pervades much of Flowers?, the second act of Snarls’ identity play. Snarls, a Columbus band built from school friendships and family connections, is an exercise in manifestation. Burst captured an early audience with its glittering, wide-eyed take on indie pop. What About Flowers? enters the cavernous wilderness of their next phase.
