ALLERGEN "HONESTY HOUR EP" PREVIEW
Garage rock is not generally an avenue for sonic exploration. The rules of the game are simple and straightforward. 1) Be loud 2) Play fast 3) Wear your bleeding heart on your sleeve. Numerous bands dating back to the ‘60s have made their name following these three rules. To excel in this blend of rock music, an artist needs an intimate understanding of how to employ these three parts to maximum effect. Although the recipe may be common knowledge, that does not inherently mean the thousands of bands making similar music are derivative or at all uninteresting. On their new EP, Honesty Hour, Allergen utilize these seemingly simple steps and create their own unique brand of garage rock.
The album opens on a pop punk riff that immediately turns over into a more surf tinged vein of garage punk. "Uncomfortable" sails along like this at a smooth clip, winding around the ear with ease. After the first chorus, the tide breaks, the tempo slows, and only the drums continue with their onward roll. Over the top of this flume, singer and principal songwriter Shannon Maroney forcefully lets loose about a number of troubling feelings that end up falling somewhere between a little less than anger and a little more than disappointment. The complexities of this emotional state and the difficulties one can have navigating it are exemplified by the standout line, “I can’t tell when you’re trying to be loving or exert your power.” Maroney swirls around these thoughts before finally breaking down into a wordless bedroom guitarist wail out.
The next track also features a set of lyrics that outline the main themes running concurrently through the whole of Honesty Hour. Stripping away the calamitous buzz of the rest of the band, Maroney laments "The novelty's worn off," followed shortly by an equally hopeless "When will my life take off?" At issue here is the present state, the joy Maroney once took in it, and the haste with which she now wishes to leave it. This is the template with which all the other songs on the EP are built on. Like “Uncomfortable,” “Last Year” sees Maroney trying to strike a balance between being too anxious and not anxious enough. And just as we found little resolution in “Uncomfortable,” “Last Year” is also led out by a mangled guitar solo that clatters around before finding a trepidatious ending.
The most adventurous tune on Honesty Hour is “Dream,” a gentler, less aggressive song featuring muted plucking, rim clicks, and a restraint not found elsewhere on the EP. There are anthemic reaches that grow from this, but ultimately these bursts are pulled back just short of the rafters, unable to fully break out. Maroney’s words model the dynamic path of the music, as she looks inward singing about the personal growth she strives for and the roadblocks that stand in the way.
Allergen do not pretend to reinvent the wheel with Honesty Hour. Instead, they take the well tested tools of the craft, and use them to build something wholly their own. What makes this blend of rock music so timelessly compelling as a listener is precisely what draws so many artists to create it. The simplicity means that there exists between the songwriter and the audience a common language that’s been fine tuned over the decades to allow a clear and direct pulse of emotion. It is the deeply personal nature of wearing your bleeding heart on your sleeve, rule number three, that Allergen truly understand.
Check out our sneak peek of Allergen’s Honesty Hour below, and make sure to preorder your copy now!
Allergen:
Shannon Maroney (the one you’re talking to) (she/they) - vox/guitar/songwriting
Eve Speers (she/her) - guitar/backup vox
Nick Flanders (he/him) - bass
Anna Shenehon (she/her) - drums
(Melodic Noise) How's your day going?
(Allergen) It’s going pretty well! Just hanging out in quarantine with my partner and our cat in our apartment!
(MN) What is your formed/origin story?
(A) Anna, Eve and I went to and eventually worked at a camp together called Girls Rock n Roll Retreat, and that is where we met. Anna and Eve went to elementary school and middle school together, and I went to middle school with Nick and high school with both Nick and Anna. I was also in a band with Anna in high school and had done short-lived musical projects with both Eve and Nick, so I knew all of us were interested in music. I had been writing a lot of stuff and started Allergen as a solo project, however, I wanted to start a band eventually. I individually reached out to Eve, Nick, and Anna (in that order) and we started practicing and playing shows.
(MN) Genre?
(A) Indie rock/Alternative rock
(MN) Do you have a label and how did you get involved with them?
(A) No
(MN) What is the story behind the EP title?
(A) They’re just honest thoughts and feeling about situations that I (Shannon) experienced that I wasn’t able to express at the time.
(MN) Lyrically what stands out on the album?
(A) I think this is partially interpretational, but some lyrics that I am particularly proud of and think reflect the EP well are:
“I wear my heart on my sleeve to remind me it still beats” (Dream)
“I’ve seen your true colors, why do you hide them?” (Icarus)
“When learning to swim, you can still drown” (Last Year)
“I can’t tell when you’re trying to be loving or exert your power” (Uncomfortable)
(MN) What was the inspiration behind the album?
(A) Events and thoughts from my childhood through graduating high school/becoming an adult and addressing my life after moving out and looking at it from a new perspective
(MN) What do you hope people take away from the album?
(A) Major themes in the EP include loneliness and hopelessness, however, I hope it comes across as equally hopeful and nostalgic.
(MN) Is there something that connects the songs together?
(A) They are all about my life!
(MN) Are you locals or transplants?
(A) Locals! We all grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis besides Eve, who is from Minneapolis.
(MN) What are some of your influences and Minnesota influences?
(A) (From everyone, in no particular order) Declan McKenna, Mitski, Jimi Hendrix, Lizzo (MN), C418, Omar Apollo, twenty one pilots, Samia, Lorde, Screaming Females, Brittany Howard, Mannequin Pussy, Destroy Boys, Sufjan Stevens, Palehound, Sidney Gish, Remo Drive (MN)
(MN) Who are some of your favorite current Twin Cities artists?
(A) (From everyone, in no particular order:) Dad Bod, Marmalade, Keep for Cheap, Boyish, Bugsy, 4th Curtis, Miloe, The Kissing Club, Harpers Jar, Baumgardner, Lydia Liza, Scrunchies, Gully Boys, Double Grave, and Blue Venus.
(MN) What is your favorite venue to play and see shows at in Twin Cities?
(A) 7th Street Entry! Or rowhouse!
(MN) What can fans expect when they come to your shows?
(A) A good time!
(MN) Do you have a favorite or crazy memory of playing a show?
(A) For our first show of 2020, we played at the rowhouse with Miloe, Marmalade, and Dad Bod. It was one of the first shows that I had ever booked, and it was packed. It was really reassuring that people liked us and liked our music/seeing us because we were/are still pretty new to the scene. It was so crowded in the basement and people were dancing so hard that people fell over multiple times into us while we were playing. It was scary in a good way.
(MN) Who are your dream tour-mates?
(A) If stylistic differences allowed it, Mannequin Pussy or Destroy Boys.
(MN) Other hobbies?
(A) Making and appreciating other art! Drawing, crocheting, embroidering, reading, writing, anything!
(MN) What do you like about living in the Twin Cities?
(A) The community of cool people, and the arts and music scenes. Everyone I’ve met from Minneapolis has a creative outlet, which is so cool.
(MN) Is there anything that sets the Twin Cities scene apart from places you've toured?
(A) We haven’t toured, YET!
(MN) What are your favorite places to grab food or drink in the Twin Cities?
(A) (From everyone, in no particular order) Hard Times Cafe, Sencha, Nico’s Tacos, Pizza Luce, Uptown Diner, India Palace Uptown, Nicollet Diner
(MN) What are the band's plans for the future?
(A) Work on our first full-length album, and reschedule our canceled tour after Coronavirus calms down.
(MN) Is there anyone you'd like to thank or shout out?
(A) Claire Altendahl for recording, mixing, and mastering; Téa McLawhorn for always taking photos/being a supportive partner; Eve, Nick, and Anna, for being in this band with me; Emily Schoonover, Griffen Desai, and Alex Norman; my parents and sister; Wes Muilenburg and Joe Keyport; everyone we’ve ever played with, and anyone who has ever come to a show!!
Make sure to purchase the Honesty Hour when it is released on Friday, May 1 on Bandcamp.
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Review by: Eric Martin, Writer @eamartin95
Interview and edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner @PlaylistTC
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