It has been quite some time since The Envy Corps have released a new album. Is It Culls You worth the wait? I have listened to this album several times now, and I can say without a doubt that it is most definitely worth the wait. I could have probably told you that halfway through the first song. And I don’t think that I went into listening to this album with a biased opinion either. I have always liked The Envy Corp. I found their music to be catchy and fun to listen to, but it didn’t really speak to me. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If all of the music that I listened to had that much intensity, listening to music would soon become exhausting.

It Culls You came out packing some heat. It seems that the fellas have really taken their time with this album and created a piece of art that shifted them in a somewhat different direction. The Envy Corps’ previous releases were more of a playful pop sound with fan favorites such as Rhinemaidens and Story Problem, whereas this new album experiments with more of an emotional experience, or rather a bit of a journey where there are highs and lows mixed with some level ground as a breather… and that happens within single songs.

The guys in The Envy Corps were not wasting anytime trying to reel us in. The opening track, Make It Stop, starts off with a spacey beat mixed with singer Luke Pettipoole’s melty voice that brings you to an almost euphoric state halfway through the song and then peaks with such intensity that you could almost end the album right there. Palace On Stilts shows how far Pettipoole can stretch his voice and unique sound, and it matches perfectly with Brandon Darner’s licks on guitar. There is almost something haunting about this album that makes you want to get lost in it.

The second half of the album opens up with In the Summer, which is the quintessential “chillin’ with your homies on a Sunday night because no one wants to admit the weekend is over” track. I dig this tune. And just when I thought I was going to end the album feeling chill, the fast paced Exchequer comes in with the traces of a speed-induced head trip. I don’t even know what this song is about, nor do I really want to; I want to make it up in my own head. And then it stops just as abruptly as it started. It Culls You is rounded out perfectly with Fools Part I and II, just as the band is rounded out perfectly with Micah Natera on synth and Scott Yoshimura on drums. Every move on this album seems perfectly calculated, and I can honestly say that I am a big fan of The Envy Corps.

So my final thought: buy this freaking album. I promise you won’t regret it. I need to get this on vinyl and spin it for my homies with copious bottles of wine. Well, I guess I just figured out my weekend plans…

Peace~

Hippie Chick