Those winters, man, they take a toll. Even the peppiest, MilwaukeeHome T-shirt wearing Cream City enthusiasts have to admit that Wisconsin winters have a way of wearing us down, and that reality inevitably comes across in the music that comes out of the city. On his 2018 effort as Soda Road, Varsity of Winter, former Sat. Nite Duets songwriter Stephen Strupp meditated on an epic bout of seasonal affective disorder, albeit with his usual zippy wordplay and ample non-sequiturs. It was too buzzy to be a buzzkill, but it hit close to home.
Soda Road’s new EP captures the feeling of coming out on the other side. Arms/Station Wagon presents a pair of couple of intoxicatingly catchy new guitar-pop tunes, bathed in chiming guitars and merry backing vocals from Elisabeth Gasparka and Sarah Luther of Warhola Cats. Even “Teach Yourself Zen,” a vulnerable nugget that first appeared on Varsity of Winter, gets a perky reprise here, and this time Strupp doesn’t sound like he’s singing it from the fetal position. Winter is over; it’s time to roll the station wagon windows down.
You can stream the EP below, via Bandcamp.
