Spotlight, featuring Ways Away

Tea pairing: Elderberry tea with honey

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When I discovered Samiam it was pretty early in my foray into emo and post-hardcore, but it was almost instantly that I relaized there was something special about the Berkeley-based quintet. Since then I have obviously gotten more into emo and a big part of that is due in part to Samiam’s pop punk spin on classic mid-90s emo.

Just about two weeks ago I stumbled upon Ways Away’s debut album, Ways Away, and I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that they sounded awfully close to Samiam. My suspicions were confirmed when I learned that the band is essentially an emo-punk supergroup composed of numerous musicians from numerous bands, with one being Sergie Loobkoff who serves as Samiam’s longtime guitarist.

Ways Away, the album, starts off strong with the opening track “Die on the Vine” where frontman Jesse Barnett’s vocals pack an emotional punch filtered through a light rasp. The real star here, and on the album as a whole, is Loobkoff and his guitar. Sounding akin to his work on Samiam’s Astray, Loobkoff bounces perfectly from calm to frantic like his playing on the heavy, fast, and angry “No Means, No Ends.”

Ways Away serves their purpose as a masterfully crafted emo supergroup thanks to the talents of all involved, with the stylings of None More Black, Racquet Club, and Stick to Your Guns all being incorporated into each song, guitar riff, drum fill, bass line, and throat-shredding vocal delivery.

As a massive fan of the typical mid-90s pop punk emo sound, Ways Away satisfies that hunger I always have for the music I delve into. With the anthemic and Jawbreaker-esque “Roam with a Ghost”, Barnett and company show off their knack for taking things that worked for others and putting their new, and improved, spin on it.

Having only been an official group for about two years now, the future looks incredibly bright for a band of friends playing some truly kickass punk rock songs. Even now it is apparent there is no stopping Ways Away as they roll fast and hard into a loud and angsty future.

Since they only have one album and a couple singles out now, there is a great anticipation I have for later releases. I can honestly say that not a single song they have put out as of now makes me concerned for what they have planned next. “Working Class Suicide Pact”, released earlier this year, is by far the band’s most personal and emotional track to date that desribes the struggles of finding happiness, and boy does it hit hard.

If you are a fan of good music that just so happens to be punk and emo, then you absolutely cannot sleep on Ways Away. Their debut record is a fast and fun 34 minutes of blissful emo-punk that harkens back to the days where alternative music dominated the airwaves. So, in short, check these guys out because they’re going to get pretty big in no time fast.