Tacoma, Washington’s Enumclaw return with their sophomore album Home in Another Life on August 30th via Run For Cover Records. Home in Another Life is a sprawling 11 song album that gleams with honest story-telling of heartache, trauma, self-doubt, and self-acceptance.

“How could I love someone like you if I hate myself?” bandleader and singer Aramis Johnson questions on album opener “I’m Scared I’ll End Up All Alone” – a song that proudly boasts the blown out guitar sounds of indie-rock-staples Dinosaur Jr. and Built to Spill. In a similar way to these acts, Johnson’s lyrics are earnestly autobiographical. Track number 2 and album single “Not Just Yet” works as a distressed ode to his Uncle Mike who recently got diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. On ”Not Just Yet,” you can find scorching fuzzed-out guitars sitting perfectly under Johnson’s irreverent delivery. “This can’t be true” he protests in the chorus’, his desperation and heartache justly palpable.

“Sink” sees the band turn down the volume for a moment. Intimate, Elliott Smith-esque guitars lead the way, all-the-while distorted guitars and percussive elements dance, prod and poke their way around the tune. Crunchy bass and anthemic drums meld together on “Spots.” Johnson’s matter-of-fact delivery on this song is reminiscent of Robert Smith of The Cure, which is ironic considering the guitar part in the verses remind me of “Lovesong” off The Cure’s seminal 1989 record Disintegration. “Spots” is one of three songs off Home in Another Life that chronicle a real-life relationship that collapsed after an abortion, when Johnson and his partner realized that they just weren’t ready. You can really feel the grief in Johnson’s delivery as he bellows “I’m in love with you” over and over again to end the track.

“I Still Feel Bad About Masturbation” is the longest cut on the record and might be my personal favorite. Sparkly guitars, and Johnson’s professions carry most of the song’s weight. A feedback-laden anti-solo blesses the track, and feels appropriately sporadic given the song’s anxious subject matter. Following “I Still Feel Bad About Masturbation” we see the spacious “Haven’t Seen The Family in Awhile, I’m Sorry.” Perhaps the most reverb-drenched track on the
album, “Haven’t Seen The Family in Awhile, I’m Sorry” has a charming Oasis-y anthemic quality to it that I adore. That same quality can be found on “Grocery Store,” and single “Change.” It’s worth mentioning that “Change” has a music video directed by John C. Peterson (Macklemore, A$AP Twelvy) that is absolutely adorable and worth a watch if you appreciate some beautiful pacific northwest scenery.

In the world of indie-rock, shoegaze and alt-rock there are a lot of trendy and contemporary sounds. These songs are great examples of Enumclaw’s ability to exist within that world but not be controlled by it. Although they aren’t always overly-elaborate or arduous, these songs are genuine, and successfully capture their experiences and perspective – which is something that separates them from their contemporaries, and makes them worth listening to.

Pre-order Home In Another Life by Enumclaw HERE