Photo by Bailey Fiste
Doubter
Doubter
There’s a contagious element in most pop-punk music—it’s often best when shared with someone else. When you’re at a show, and the entire crowd is jumping around and singing along with you, it feels like you’re at a house party with all of your closest friends. Whereas emo music can have that sort of brooding, sit-alone-in-my-room sullenness to it, pop-punk takes its sadness on the road with a car packed full of friends.
It’s one reason that Milwaukee punk band Doubter’s debut EP has spread throughout Milwaukee’s music scene like wildfire.
“My friend just texted me the other day saying he was showing his barber the EP,” laughs vocalist Cameron Murdoch.
Doubter is a recent band that formed out of boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Murdoch, bassist Byron Nelson and guitarist Taylor Schulz had been playing in bands together since high school. Drummer Blake Akers was brought into the mix after he and Murdoch connected through a mutual friend. The band built upon acoustic demos and old songs that Murdoch had recorded and began writing its debut self-titled EP.
Singles from the EP had broken 1000 streams on Spotify before its release—and before the band had played any of its songs live.
“We didn’t want to play (these songs) live until they were perfect,” Murdoch says.
And it's clear that Doubter was chiseling away at its songs until they were ready for an audience—the songs are as polished and refined as you’d expect from a far more established pop-punk or emo group, with a production shine that doesn’t betray the fact that this EP was recorded partially in basements and home studios.
Doubter’s debut EP is a six-song trek down memory lane for those who grew up listening to punk-rock and emo in the late ‘90s and early 2000s when artists wrote songs about heartbreak and nonconformity, but delivered them in bouncy packages. It’s packed full of distorted power-pop riffs and huge, attitude-soaked choruses.
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The EP kicks off with “Down Days,” a punchy, anthemic opener that dynamically teeters on a riffy pre-chorus before opening up into the song’s explosive chorus for the first time. It’s a great introduction to what Doubter is all about—a catchy guitar riff reintroduces itself multiple times before the track ends, and the chorus earworms its way inside of your head despite only being given the chance to play out twice.
Teasing Hooks
Following that track is “Coulda Woulda,” a single off of the EP that’s paired with a music video shot and edited by Bailey Fiste. The single teases its big hook yet doesn’t reveal it until the song is almost over—a feat that Doubter manages to pull off throughout the six songs. Doubter doesn’t recycle its big hooks throughout the EP—rather, it builds up a catchy-as-hell song around that hook. And then when you finally get to hear it, the song is over far too quickly and you’re left wanting more.
“Go Home,” a bratty confessional, slows things down and shows the band can groove when it wants to. With lyrics like “Help me/I’m withering away in self-doubt,” Murdoch attempts to open up a conversation about self-reflection—a far cry from the point-your-finger-and-blame melancholy found in other pop-punk groups.
“I like ‘Go Home’ a lot,” says Murdoch. “It’s the most fun we have at band practice. It has everything in it – a quiet part, a really cool guitar part and the last chorus is really big.”
Doubter brings to the table what you’d expect from a band that has self-described itself as pop-punk – it has punchy power chords, jangly lead riffs and catchy choruses packed with self-deprecating lyrics. The band wears its influences on its sleeve – Murdoch cites groups like The Get Up Kids and early Brand New as inspiration.
But Doubter also sneaks in some surprises in its songwriting—it utilizes punchy, poppy hooks, but is conservative in how often it allows the listener a chance to learn the words. You’ll find yourself hitting the repeat button on songs just to get your fill of the band’s knack for writing a hook.
And at the end of the day, Doubter comes off as a group of screwball dudes having fun writing music that they would’ve loved listening to growing up – tackling subject matter that never feels too adolescent yet still manages to conjure up the same nostalgic feelings that often linger on the opening riffs of a pop-punk song from a bygone decade. An invite to a Doubter show feels like an invite to come hang out, have a beer and get some shit off of your chest with some old friends.
“It’s a fun, relatable album that addresses some stuff that everything is going through, but also keeps it fun,” Murdoch says. “We’re all fun, we like having a good time – God, I said fun, like, six times.”
Doubter performs Oct. 2 at Bremen Cafe, Oct. 27 at X-Ray Arcade and Nov. 5 at Bremen Cafe. Watch them on YouTube at:
