Girl at the Rock Shows

I reviewed Pencildive’s album ‘Grown-Ups’ a couple of years ago. I instantly fell in love with this New York group and still revisit that album almost weekly (which, for me, is a lot). When the band reached back out about their new EP, ‘Watch The World,’ my heart started to flutter. Was this album going to hit me the same way their first one did? Only one way to find out! Let’s dig into this quick little EP from Pencildive.

The album starts with “Eyes”. This song is slightly fuzzy and slightly jammy and so full of energy. I was instantly struck by the composition of this track. The band really takes their time with the beat and notes throughout this song. They stretch certain portions out, giving the song an almost slow-moving vibe, but quickly follow that up with an explosion of sound and then really hit the gas. Much like the first song on ‘Grown-Ups,’ “Eyes” instantly had me hooked and lost in Pencildive’s world, ready and waiting for more.

The lyrics in “Cover Your Ears” are not complicated. Honestly, there aren’t many of them as most of the song is the same few repeated phrases, yet somehow, I felt utterly captivated by this nearly six-minute-long song. This is a bit of a heartbreaking track, but there’s also something bright about it. I’m unsure how Pencildive pulled this off, but this song made me want to cry and smile simultaneously. It’s sweet, slow, and deliberate, like some of the portions of “Eyes,” and has the band’s signature move of going from this soft tone to an explosion of sound in the blink of an eye. The trick here is that you never know when that explosion is going to happen, but when it does, it will literally knock you on your butt.

I love the pessimism showcased in the lyrics of “Alone Anyway,” but what I like more is how it fits with the instrumentation in this track. Again, Pencildive is up to their signature move of creating songs that absolutely follow and ebb and flow, but that ebb and flow feels a bit spastic and doesn’t quite follow the standard equation that makes a song “normal,” but that’s what makes them so great. Between that and the lyrics (that all end in the phrase “Cause we’re all alone anyway”, “Alone Anyway” is absolutely a favorite of mine from this all-too-short release.

Closing out this EP is the title track, “Watch The World”. At nearly seven minutes long, “Watch the World” is a bit of an epic in how you go through many moods and phases throughout. I’m not sure what’s going on in Pencildive’s world right now or if it’s just something I didn’t catch on ‘Grown-Ups,’ but the lyrics of this song, like “Alone Anyway” are a bit dark and pessimistic, which adds to the magical juxtaposition that this band does so well. Although I hate the fact that this release is only about twenty minutes long, I love that the band ends it with such an emotive track. Out of all four songs on ‘Watch The World,’ this is the one that will hit you like a knife to the heart (but in a good kind of way).

It took Pencildive a hot minute to put this EP out, but after listening to it, I understand why. Much like the songs on it, I feel like the band really took their time curating the perfect EP, and what they’ve come up with in ‘Watch The World’ is pure gold. This album will make you go from happy-go-lucky to recognizing the pain you may keep in your heart day in and day out in the blink of an eye, and that, along with the sheer talent and creativity in this release, makes for a heck of a ride so buckle up and enjoy!

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