Cory Gehrich - soup

Cory Gehrich

Soup
self-released; 2015

3.8 out of 5

By Jamie Robash

Right out of the gate Oakland based solo artist Cory Gehrich exemplifies what the best indie rock bands do well; he makes a seemingly simple style of music sound authentic, and leaves the listener wanting to hear more. This may have something to do with Gehrich’s music school background. He has already acquired a BA from UC San Diego in Interdisciplinary Computing in the Arts, with a focus on audio engineering and computer music programming. He’s now working on his MFA at Mills College in Oakland in the Electronic Music and Recording Media program. 

So why the curriculum vitae you ask? It helps to explain some of the reasons why Gehrich’s latest EP Soup is such an indie rock masterpiece. Soup was recorded in and around the campus of Mills College, and much of its strength abounds from its use of sound engineering as an instrumental and integral part of what makes the album so good. 

Take the twangy and ear grabbingly catchy low-fi guitar riffs on the opener “Soup,” which pairs perfectly with Gehrich’s deliberately restrained vocals and a well-placed dose of guitar feedback during the chorus and the close. “Soup” is reminiscent of bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Yo La Tengo. 

Next up is the genius acoustically jammed out cover of the Bacharach, David and Pitney vehicle “24 Hours from Tulsa.” This track features additional vocals from Ana Roxanne. Roxanne also adds vocals to the searing guitar driven “If You Died” the other cover song on Soup.   

Soup closes with the quiet acoustic strums of “Just a Joke.” As Gehrich quietly begs for a joke to help ease the pain he’s feeling, one begins to hear the shimmering feedback of a harmonica creeping into the song. Towards the end, it begins to take over.

It’s rare that a little six-song EP by a virtual unknown can make such a large impression. With Cory Gehrich’s Soup this impression is made whole because Gehrich is the engineer of his whole sound. It is this close relationship that he has with the entire project that helps make Soup sound so successful. It’s one of the best truly indie albums I’ve had the pleasure of listening to for quite some time. 

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