John Ericsson - ​Here & Now

John Ericsson 

​Here & Now
self-released 2016

3.4 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

John Ericsson is a musician from Paoli, Pennsylvania who recently released a five-song EP entitled Here & Now. It’s a DIY effort and revolves around guitar, bass, drums and his vocals. Ericsson mentions that Here & Now was influenced by bands like Weezer, Parachute and the All-American Rejects. I heard the pop punk influence right away.

Take for instance the opener “Small Talk” which certainly has an emo sensibility to it. The song starts off with one of the best off-kilter guitar riffs on the EP. As he slides into the verse Ericsson keeps it subtle and nuanced with his vocals on top of the mix. Once the chorus hits Ericsson rocks things out a bit more. A solid opener that is catchy in a pop punk kind of way.

Up next is “Back To New York” and it becomes evident that ’90s pop punk is going to be the theme of the EP. As with the first song it’s well-written with a catchy chorus and multiple parts which help build the song up. The song may very well be the highlight amongst the batch. I enjoyed the bass line along with the vocals. 

“Burning Bridges” continues to feed the ’90s pop punk influence while “Intentions” is the one song where I heard the influence from Weezer. He closes with a notable song entitled “Secondhand.”

Ericsson wears his influences on his sleeve with this EP but I think that was some of his intentions. There aren't groundbreaking songs on this EP but they are well-written while also following the tropes of the genre.

​Here & Now felt like a homage to some of the bands that Ericsson has loved for a long time. It does make for a cohesive experience with songs that felt like they were brewed from the same pot.

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