Saintseneca is an indie folk band out of Columbus, Ohio consisting of Zac Little, Maryn Jones, Steve Ciolek, Jon Meador and Matthew O’Conke. You might recognise one of those names, seeing as Maryn Jones is also part of All Dogs (who we like a lot) and performs solo under the name Yowler, whose album The Offer is one of our favourites this year.
Anyway, Saintseneca are back with a new full-length, Such Things, which is very much worth your time. Combining rock, pop, folk and punk with strong writing and clever word play, the band make catchy yet surprisingly deep songs which seem equally suited to live parties and solo headphones sessions. From the up-tempo celebration of ‘River’, which brings to mind Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Neutral Milk Hotel-inspired title track and the choral, almost acapella singalong of ‘House Divided’, Such Things is a nuanced collection of indie rock songs which will provoke a fair bit of existential thinking. ‘How Many Blankets Are In The World?’ provides a nice summation of the band’s philosophy and message:
“Life is long
long enough to be mean
Life is short
short enough to mean something
To those who long
those who long for longer”
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Such Things is an album which confronts the mysteries of life in a celebratory and/or fulfilling way, favouring finding interest and comfort in the unknowable instead of the nihilism many turn to when thinking of, well… such things.
You can buy Such Things now from the Saintseneca Bandcamp page, or on vinyl from ANTI-.