Like most people who grew up listening to music in the mid-2000s, I’ve been a huge fan of the band Paramore. Whether it be the pop-punk jams from albums like Riot! or the new-wave stylings of After Laughter the band has continued to deliver some of my favorite songs for many years now. Many people mostly know the band for their front-woman, Haley Williams, who has remained the face of the band since its inception. However, the band’s other members are just as talented as Ms. Williams herself, especially drummer Zach Farro. When not playing drums for Paramore, Farro is more focused on his other musical project, indie-pop outfit HalfNoise.

This project had started in 2012 from the collaboration of Farro and fellow Tennessee musician Jason Clark. They have released numerous albums and EPs since their inception and their latest release Flowerss is proving to be some of their most catchy and consistent work to date.

Starting right from the title tracks the listener can already tell their in for a very psychedelic tinged pop experience through this EP. All the songs throughout are very much driven by clean and crisp guitar chords couple with a variety of guitar riffs from crunchy and distorted to jangly and clean. HalfNoise have managed to take a very consistent sound that they use throughout this record and explore different ways to use that sound, which adds to their appeal. You hear this on the summery piano and guitar arpeggio tinged track “Every Single Time” to songs like “She Said” which is more groove based with on the beat chord changes and tight rhythm section.

The instrumentation on this EP has a very tight and polished sound throughout thanks to the very clear production. None of the instruments are too forward or too far away within in the mix giving everything its own time to shine. The vocals, however, have a tendency to get drowned out by the instruments, at the very least to the point where some of the lyrics become inaudible within a few of the tracks. It is a shame too, because Zach Farro’s vocals add a lot to this release. He maintains a very smooth tone with a slightly darker timbre that makes his singing very enjoyable to listen to. This is sometimes even contrasted with some nice falsetto tones, especially on “Every Single Time”. Tracks like “My Girl” shows him going a little breathier and lighter with his voice, but this never really detracts from his performance.

Lyric wise, HalfNoise takes a very simplistic approach. Verses tend to be on the shorter side and choruses are a bit more repetitive than typical, and the lyrics themselves create straightforward songs about love and relationships. This makes an EP like this very easy to digest during listens but rarely is there anything all that “deep” within it as a result. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but don’t listen to this release expecting anything all that profound.

For those who are fans of Farro’s other projects (i.e. Paramore), you’ll find this release to be fairly different from most of his known output. However, I believe HalfNoise proves themselves through this release as a solid band in their own right, without having to draw comparisons to anything else. They’re a fun and catchy group and this EP is a perfect pick for anyone’s summer playlist.