The Beremy Jets - Backup Friend E​.​P.

​The Beremy Jets

​Backup Friend E​.​P.
​self-released; 2017

3.8 out of 5

By Andrew Westberry

Paul Saamak has been the drummer for many bands including LKWRM and Slowmotion Club, and he also makes music as a solo artist under the moniker The Beremy Jets in his bedroom studio in Malmö, Sweden. He has recorded and released two EPs, and the most recent of the EPs entitled Backup Friend was released in February 2017.

​“A.C.” starts off the album with, as the name might suggest, what sounds like ambient air conditioning noises. The soundscape is quickly sculpted into a lo-fi noise pop style by the introduction of mellow distorted electric guitars, drums and bass, as well as reverb-laced vocals that float above the rest of the instrumentation.

The shoegaze style continues in “Six Degrees of Separation Anxiety” as lengthy guitar portions are juxtaposed by short sections with vocals, questioning the typical structure of a pop song, as it is unclear which is the song’s main focus and which is not. Although the shoe gaze style is characteristically repetitive, Saamak succeeds in repeating riffs and progressions in a many ways, adding variations in order to prevent songs from becoming tedious and monochromatic.

“Scandi Sneakers,” the album’s third track, maintains many of the same stylistic elements as the first two songs, but ride cymbals and droning ambient chords bring a novel experimental, spacey, almost hypnotic feel to the song. The listener is brought back a little closer to earth, but not all the way back, in “Feedback Over Talent” as guitars, drums, and vocals layer over each other in a precisely controlled chaos.

As a whole, Backup Friend EP embodies a new, exciting approach to a genre already teeming with energy and feeling. With each song on the album, Paul Saamak proves his ability to make the listener become lost in his music, and he shows that his years spent in different bands has prepared him perfectly to create quality music himself.

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