Rain Residents - Rain Residents

Rain Residents

Rain Residents
self-released; 2016

3.9 out of 5

By Santiago Garcia

The Rain Residents is a group of talented, multi-instrumental artists that have found a common rhythm together and are able to create great songs in a bunch of different sounds and genres. Rain Residents LP is the group’s first joint musical creation and is a collection of independently created songs with different vibes and feelings. The album does not have a clear, overarching story or theme but is instead a journey through the cool, complex sounds the Rain Residents can come up with. 

Rain Residents LP starts out with a sweet, groovy organ laden track “Oak and Concrete.” The song starts out with a cool introduction with lots of different instruments coming in and talking together. The folksy voice complements the sound really well. The chorus and bridge has awesome instrumentals and riffs; it’s pretty powerful. There are all sorts of sounds layered in, like the trippy, spacey synths that come in later in the track. The different sounds all groove well together, and complement each other in a really smooth way.

The next track “Northwest High” is a similar vocal-heavy song but it has a much more mellow melody and vibe. The voice is more clear and calm than the last track. The keys throughout the entire song are great and keep up the pace and vibe of the song. The background chorus splashed near the end is a great touch, and shows that these guys like the little sounds too. The track has another great instrumental driven bridge at the end, and transitions really well into the next track. 

The Rain Residents display their versatility and different talents throughout the album. “Bacon Strips” starts showing a different style and has an awesome jam session-like introduction. Two guitars riff and dance off each other, one with a really clean sound and the other with a spacey, electro sound. It’s a great combo and an awesome touch to the album. The song moves through different rhythms and transitions into dope, dark synths that have more of a metal rock feel. 

Rain Residents LP keeps moving between vocal-driven tracks like “Circles” and other more trippy instrumental-heavy tracks like “Black Hole Sun Improv.” This is a fun album to listen to because of that variety and combination. It gives the listener a good balance, and the transitions are really well done. They have an instrumental song that features a piano sampling different sounds and improvising, and the next song “How About You” vocal-heavy but complemented perfectly with a piano. 

​This group set out to display their musical compatibility and did exactly that. They have a variety of sounds laden throughout the album, but they also did a solid job balancing those sounds right during the production. This is a fun and easy album to listen to.

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