Released in April of 2020, The Waitlist have put forth their debut EP that we’re loving. It’s titled EP 01 and we highly recommend you listen. Read along with us as we provide an in-depth review into the music featured, as well as a bit of background on the band itself.

Based out of Boston, Massachusetts, The Waitlist are an eclectic mix of bandmates that complement each other in the best way possible. Before we dig into the music though, let’s familiarize ourselves with their project. What initially started as a home recording project in 2018, brothers Arjun Shah (vocals/guitar) and Anand Shah (guitar) decided to transform their project into a full fledged band after receiving enthusiastic support from family and friends. They quickly recruited band members Garrett Young (bass) and Stephen Leotis (drums) and began performing their songs at Boston-area clubs. Things took a turn though in summer of 2019 when drummer Stephen Leotis parted ways with the band. Shortly thereafter, James Dunoyer joined on drums when he decided to quite literally jump on stage at one of the band's shows. Now if that isn’t the absolute most punk rock way possible to join a band, please reach out to us with your personal stories. Seriously, awesome.

This specific EP was recorded at The Bridge Sound and Stage Studios in Cambridge, MA, as well as those recorded at home, the EP showcases the band's sound to a broader audience. For those who have already listened and loved, don’t worry because the band is currently working on a follow-up slated for release later this year.

Well now that we’ve familiarized ourselves and gotten a bit of background on The Waitlist, it’s about time we dug into EP 01. From the opening chords on “Death Was Really Boredom”, we had a feeling that this was going to be something special. Considering the band cites their influences as Weezer, Modest Mouse, The Strokes, and many more, our expectations were quite high as those are some of our favorite groups ever. Let’s just say that the culmination of sounds we were expecting truly rang true within the four songs that we heard.

What you’ll immediately notice is that the instrumentation is quite diversified and very clearly original. Specifically, the bass lines on “Leave My Lungs” had us grooving immediately. The guitar riffs were catchy and fit in oh so perfectly paired with the impressive vocals as well. What we’d really like to point out though is the lyrics on the EP. The band was clearly trying to emulate the introspection of Radiohead and Built To Spill, but absolutely knocked it out of the park with all respects to those groups. The vocal delivery is flawless and very much fits in with the overall vibe and atmosphere I feel the band was trying to create.

Overall though, I hope we’ve made ourselves clear enough in our review that these guys are the real deal. As soon as things go back to “normal”, we hope their tour makes way to Los Angeles, because without a doubt we’ll be at the show rocking out!

For all things The Waitlist, to listen to EP 01, and to stay up to date with all future releases and information, please check out the following links below.

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The Waitlist have shared their eclectic new EP, titled EP 01