Rumspringa EP Review on Performer Mag
Peformer Mag

Not since the Farrelly brothers' Kingpin has an Amish rite of passage been so filled with sexed-up beats and multi-instrumental debauchery.

Rumspringa - long known as slang for "running around" to the Pennsylvania Dutch - is the period of time in adolescence during which youths rebel against family. Outlets are of the usual variety: sex, drugs and, in the case of Los Angeles-based Rumspringa, a healthy dose of funk and soul.

Counterbalancing equal parts lounge act warbling with Om-eliciting sˆ©ance reverb, album openers "I Run Amiss" and "Shake 'em Loose Tonight" ease listeners in, recanting dialogue between children and parents before the inevitable Rumspringa. Frontman Joey Stevens' whinnied delivery drops into deeper registers with "Goldmine," a faster-paced musing on the finer points of enjoying cannabis sativa in a semi-feverish state. As the EP centerpiece, "Goldmine" not only becomes the obvious record highlight, but also embodies the height of frivolity that a so-called Rumspringa is said to have.

After reaching such a height, there isn't much room to go anywhere but down - in tempo and pitch, that is. Stevens' brassy voice goes guttural on "In the Jungle," wavering back and forth between percussionist Itaru de la Vega's steady hi-hats and the thick-frosted layers of raw bass.

A Rumspringa can end in one of two ways: an Amish youth chooses to be baptized and remain in the good graces of the church, or leave the community and tradition behind. It's only with "Skulls 'n Phones," an organ-heavy chug-a-long through Stevens' version of a Nick Cave ballad, does the pace on the EP truly slow down. This is followed by a final goodbye to hustle and bustle in "Minds Alive," a tom-driven caravan chant if there ever was one.

With this more subdued ending, it could be assumed that Stevens and de la Vega opt in favor of the traditional - but from the looks of it, it's still fairly obvious these two ain't altar boys.
(Cantora Records)

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