#americaparttwo

The first time I saw America Part Two was at Ocean Township’s own, 20-year-old, Mark Embrey’s Syrian refugee benefit show, Light in the Attic, at The Inkwell. The band not only played their first show as a band, but opened the night with an acoustic set.

In front of band member, Freddie Koechlin, I sat on the ground next to one of my old and good friends, swaying back and forth singing the words to “California.”

This June 9, at the Asbury Park Music Foundation, the band will hold their EP release for their debut EP Pure. Eight dollars at the door, the night will encompass sets by the beloved Have a Good Season, Corrina, Corrina, Kinder Than Wolves, and Paulie and The Bluechips.

I, however, want to tell you a little bit about the new EP and let you know what I think and what you can expect to hear from the trio of Mayflower Collective founders and pioneers, longtime musicians, bandmates, and best friends, Freddie Koechlin, Alex Fabio, and Jake Newcomb:

Pure is a collection of four songs titled, “America Pt. II,” “Hoedown (What Do You Know?),” “Ocean Grove,” and “California,” and having had experiences with the band, it is kind of beautiful to have a glimpse of where the pit of these songs might come from and who they might be about.

Let’s start with “America Pt. II,” a stripped down acoustic road of harmonic passion and love, this song is the anthem to the band’s America, or rather, what they feel America should mean. The track, in fact, reminds me of Koechlin leaving for tour last summer of 2016. I envision him traveling the nation, sitting by the Grand Canyon whistling the sounds of the ocean, the laughter of his friends, Hailey, their cat, music and home—all with a smile.

Then there is the thought of Newcomb: He is a history professor, touring with a successful band, America Part Two, and he knows what it is he wants—he knows what, and who, it is that he loves and he doesn’t let it go.

The band indefinitely wants to express what’s in their hearts, and although, it is not on the record, Jake Newcomb has a heartbreaking song that makes you think about how you might speak, act, love, and live with the someone you love to put before anyone else. Words hold so much weight in love, but actions always hold more. I haven’t heard the song since the Light in the Attic show, but that song in particular encourages me to feel that these three don’t want to make a sound to appeal to everyone, but create one that echoes their love for the art of music. With that, I hope to see that specific song as a track on their record release. Additionally, “America Pt. II” also breeds this conception of purity in the music, and makes someone like me feel happy to call the Jersey Shore and the local music scene home.

“Hoedown (What Do You Know?)” tears out the full band, introducing the drums to the EP, who of which are played by Matt Lambert, another lovely counterpart to the music scene of the Jersey Shore. I remember the last time I saw Lambert was approximately three or four years ago. We were having a cigarette on the steps of The Asbury Lanes after Toy Cars played a set. 

Anyhow, this song brings me back to the vibe of Alex and Freddie’s past band, On Your Marks—particularly the record Ripped Out By The Roots—but has some of that melodic sound Alex and Jake, the Fox and Lion, put into their self-titled EP , which holds “California” as track three. Alone, the opening lyrics to “Hoedown (What Do You Know?)”: “I wear this hoodie of a college I’ll never go to; I’m brewin’ coffee in the morning, it’s only half past two,” resonate with many people, particularly, our generation. This song is a middle finger to what society in America deems a prioritized life for your average twenty-something-year-old. The sound is pop punk, and a pair of shrugged shoulders with an eye roll at the eye doctor.

I quite adore track three: “Ocean Groove”. This past year has been a rampage of moving, life changes, rent, issues, love, a terrible election season and heartbreak upon the houses of our friends, so, for me, personally, this song, as well as “California,” brings it to the front door of some of those memories upon those houses and apartments.

I think of last summer once again here. Last summer was a better time for the two houses on the royal land of Fairfield—condensed with more love, more continuity, before things changed, however that love is still there, just more spread out. For Fabio, I think this song, lyrically, as I think the tracks on his and Newcomb’s Fox and Lion EP, are poetically loving and heartwarming, and with it so, I think of who Fabio loves, as well as, Ruby the dog.

Nevertheless, the guitarist and vocalist that is Fabio has a lot of love to give and as a result, I think of what he’d see when he would enter into that one in particular “Ocean Groove” apartment: “Just decide what you want to change into; Ravaged threads always cover the floor of your room; Your hair is everywhere; Your hair is everywhere; Your hair is everywhere; Your hair is everywhere”. I never did get to visit that apartment…then again, I was also advised against it.

Track four, “California,” re-recorded from the original, is my absolute favorite track on this EP. I just think of a gypsy, curly, brown haired human, with the most beautiful bright eyes and warmest smile on this side of the Jersey Shore. I think of California and the journey of a love I do not know, or a love that has me in a knot, not knowing what move is the right one, but making those moves anyway: “…Every time you come around she takes another step to the West… Pin yourself up on the map; Wherever you go, I will not go; Just choose a home and I’ll choose the road”.

The opening to “California,” grips you. The minute and 20 seconds of melodic guitar builds you up into the sand of the beach where you rise up to the horizon of the water, meeting the setting sun. Your sight moves to the direction of the West, but your body doesn’t because you’re sitting on a couch in that apartment, and you meet her half way. The guitar and bass part tell this story as well. Conveying the motion, Koechlin’s bass part echoes the bouncy groove of the song’s season as though a soundtrack to the movie this song builds in the listener’s mind. The bass part holding hands with the guitar part—at which summarizes the flow of emotions, sewing chimes into the sunlight that slaps Fabio—that burns his retinas—rocks the reality of the track with Alex’s intensifying vocals. The rise and fall of the chorus says it all: “Slap my face with the sun; Let the rays burn my retinas; Cigarettes though your lungs; We’ll never go to California”.

621 Lake Ave Unit 1C, Asbury Park, New Jersey 07712 - I will see you there.