It’s relatively rare nowadays that I listen to an album from a band that is 1) Completely brand new to me 2) Was found organically and not recommended by a friend 3) Impresses me so much that I listen to it for a week plus before writing an article about it. Charmer’s Downpour is the rare album that fits the bill on all three fronts. Listening to an album per day for nearly three years will make all three of those traits hard to accomplish, especially when you’re mainlining an incredible array of genres across seventy years of recorded music. It’s just simply hard for any band to truly impress my music-loving heart at this joint. I’m the surly old guy sitting on the porch.
So what makes Downpour so special? It’s a handful of things. Maybe it’s the way they fuse the melodic intensity of the bands I grew up on like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday from the late 90s Long Island punk scene, bands that were among my first true musical loves. Maybe it’s the earnestness of their songwriting, the way their hooks are incredibly melodic and shockingly raw all at the same time. Or maybe it’s the dreamy melancholic nature of their sound, an approach that has a forlorn intimacy that has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. But whatever it is, I’m hooked. I can’t get enough of these guys.
Downpour is a record that sounds like the emotional scars of the past but also embodies the hope of brighter days. The opening salvo of tracks on this album is simply sublime– the opener “Linger” sets the tone through its blend of melody, reverb, and cathartic release, an intensity that continues as it transitions into songs like “Arrowhead,” “Blue Jay” (a personal favorite), and “Medicine”. These songs all showcase Charmer’s knack for unleashing heavy gained-out guitars without sacrificing the sense of brooding atmosphere which makes them so compelling. And when the band tones it down a bit they sound just as great. The reflective “Watercolor” brings back the nostalgia and lyricism that recall the early wave of emo’s revival, while the bouncy indie-flair of “Swords Dance” adds an almost party-like flair to the album. These varying sonic approaches throughout the entire album translate into something that feels like the waves of emotion you experience going through life. At the risk of sounding trite or cliche, this album remind me of that emotional journey of my own.
Downpour feels like an album about confronting isolation, reshaping identity, and finding beauty in the gray skies that sometimes hang overhead. But ultimately this is an album that reminds me of resilience — a gentle nudge that even when the storm doesn’t pass, you can still find meaning in the power of the pouring rain.
Standout Songs: “Linger”, “Arrowhead”, “Blue Jay”, “Swords Dance”, “Rose Thorns”, “Galick Gun”
