For You by Big Tuesday
Connecticut alt rockers Big Tuesday’s 2021 EP, For you, is a five song banger. The drums have the tight proficiency of a well trained jazz school player, and the bass playing throughout the album gives the right balance of motion, flare, and foundation depending on what the moment calls for. The catchy riffs of the lead and distorted tones of the rhythm electric guitars provide the rock sonic qualities. The vocals are a smooth, light, and airy quality that dance over the rough guitars quite complimentarily.
The title track starts the album off with great guitar tone and an exciting rhythm section. The lyrics of the song also deliver some attitude: “I wrote a song for you. I guess you’ll never hear it… Doesn’t mean I’m falling in love; just means I think about you enough.” The middle of the song has some flashy bass work which breaks it up nicely, and the following chorus also has some flashy variations in the drums which makes it elevated from the previous choruses. The rock attitude intensifies with the entrance of epic distorted vocals for the bridge. The bridge is followed by a head-banging half-time chorus, and then ramps up to one last normal chorus to finish off the song.
The second song, “Appealing,” features some dope guitar licks in between the verses. The bass and toms are locked in and tight with each other, giving a great pocket. The bridge has some tasty delayed vocals. The whole band accents the guitar licks post-bridge, and then there is some fantastic shredding to end the song on high energy.
“Rendezvous” follows, which is a cheery song. The riff is very upbeat, and the song overall is just one of those ones that makes you want to sing along and skip down the street. The bass has slides and accented notes, which create great motion in the song. There is a chill moment after one of the choruses with some nice changes in the vocal effects, and then it builds back into another verse. This repeats again, but instead of another verse, we get an instrumental break that highlights the musicianship skills of the band. The instrumental break leads into a final chorus.
The fourth song is titled “There She Goes.” Like the other songs on the EP, it has great bass work, and great cymbal and snare work from the drummer. The staccato guitar lines in the beginning are really distinguishing from some of the other songs’ guitar riffs. The vocal melodies also provide some nice contrast by going from long, legato notes that seem to float over the chorus to some fast spitting lyrics in the verses. This song’s best moment is when everything cuts out except the vocals and drums. It creates great emphasis without losing the groove of the song.
The closer of the EP is “A Little Bit of Honesty,” which starts off with Ince introductions of the instruments to build up. The riff sits nicely on top of the wicked gritty rhythm guitar tone, and the clean and clear vocals pleasantly dance above the rock tone of the band. This song has some great tom fills and drum dynamics between each section. The guitar licks also play really well in between the vocal lines of the chorus. There is a cool full-stop section for the second to last chorus, and then an instrumental chorus that nicely finishes off the song and EP.
For You is a great EP and recommended for fans of indie rockers with a “jazz school” player influence. If you like artists like Snail Mail, you will like Big Tuesday. We can’t wait to hear how Big Tuesday evolves with either a sophomore EP or a full album release.