Realwell - In Case You Were Wondering
Realwell is an indie rock band with elements of of vocal pop melodies. “In Case You Were Wondering” is the debut release by the band. The brief 17 minute long EP gives a glimpse of the type of artists composing Realwell through five songs.
Listening to Realwell is like playing everyone’s favorite garbage band moments before they blow up nationally. Lead vocals and rhythm guitar are held down by Joshua Fingerhut. Siblings Andy and Jack Riendeau handle lead guitar and bass with Andy on guitar and Jack on bass. The drummer on the record is Nate Gliebe however the drummer moving forward with future releases by Realwell will be Toby Caulk.
“Parallel” is the intro song on the EP, and it hooks you immediately. Melodies in the song feel reminiscent of peak 3oh3 blended with soulful indie rock instrumentation. Drums hit alongside Joshua’s vocals almost as an exclamation points to emphasis the angst filled lyrics in the chorus.
The second song “Get By” holds sonically similar to the final third act of “Parallel”. Guitar melodies shine bright in the upbeat song to hide the darker lyrics. Lyrically the song is about pushing forward “trying to get by”. One of the most somber lyrics being the lines: “My sister’s sick and, losing the fight. My best friend died..” However this writer’s personal favorite moment of the song being the vibrato in the lead singer Josuhua’s voice during the words “all right”.
Moving forward “Elicit” starts softer with slower guitar strums. As the instrument’s tempo quickens in pace before dropping, the song’s lyrics continue further describing people who take others for granted. Lines such as: “Act like the planets revolve around you. That’s why you’re suffocating the room” being highlights in the song. As the end of the short song nears the instruments all increase in enthusiasm as if to reflect someone spiraling.
“Day Late Mates” starts running keeping up with the pace the brief one minute plus “Elicit” laid as a blueprint. The song itself written as a crowd pleaser to get you jumping during live shows with high energy levels throughout.
Outros of multi-track projects are underrated. With the short attention span of casual music consumers, the intro song is almost always the most streamed song. However when an outro can give the listener a sense of closure wrapped with a bittersweet touch to lure you back for future listening, you can remember the appeal. Realwell stays strong with their EP’s outro titled “Seasons”.
The guitar intro melody brings the feeling of finality similar to Johnny Cash’s rendition of “Hurt”. Thematically the song is about societal pressures and feelings of disappointments. Lines such as: “how do I please everyone, everyone but you” and “I’ve been doing better without you” reflect the mindset of song best.
