With the end of summer fast approaching, it’s hard not to feel nostalgic for the dog days gone by. Late August can feel like the final moments before sunset — as the days become shorter and autumn settles in, summer, like the sun, dips slowly below the horizon line and out of view. Here to ease us through this transition is Seattle-based duo Options Open, whose EP The Mode ends the season on a soothing, introspective note.
The six-track, fifteen-minute EP begins with “Sand,” a mellow song with soft guitar chords and subdued bass that float gently along like the early morning tide. Euphonious lyrics that reflect on the inescapable passage of time drift overtop brooding instrumentals that fade in and out of earshot. At just under two minutes, “Sand” is a brief interlude of sorts. The track is a loose stream of consciousness that embodies the beach-day-in-a-bottle vibes of the surf-rock genre.
Following “Sand” is “Noisemaker,” another short track — only two of the six songs on the EP run over three minutes — that incorporates an energetic, almost frantic tone. Compared to the easygoing sounds of “Sand,” “Noisemaker” is, instrumentally, more assertive, employing a carefully chosen collection of chords and percussive elements. From these sounds, singer Eric Gordon develops a musical monologue of sorts, wherein which he describes his frustration at viewing himself as “just a noisemaker” — or someone who talks a lot but doesn’t say much. As instruments crescendo all around him, Gordon questions if his life has amounted to nothing more than going through the motions. “Noisemaker,” ultimately, draws a link between our voices and our impact, exploring how we associate self-worth with our willingness to speak up and out.
Next up is the twangy, more traditionally structured “Garbage.” The track, which, so far, is the first on the EP to include discernible verses and a chorus, overlaps snappy melodies with smooth, flatly-spoken vocals. The lyrics admonish self-promotion and vanity as forms of “garbage,” and make subtle mentions to various other perceived ills of human behavior. The brevity of this track, like the others, works in its favor — because the thoughts of the singer are wrapped up just as quickly as they are introduced, “Garbage” feels like an acceptable vent rather than a dragged out complaint.
“Garbage” is followed by “Scar,” a sharper, lengthier track (clocking in at 3:21) that uses heavy instrumentals as the basis for lyrics that delve into deep-seated insecurities. Compared to other tracks on The Mode, “Scar” is gritty and exposed; it diverges from the looser, surf-rock vibe of its preceding tracks to incorporate forceful sounds that speak emotional volumes of their own.
The final two tracks of the EP are perhaps its standouts. “Strange” is an alt-rock beauty that uses slow, concentrated vocals to narrate a push and pull between two people, who are possibly ill-fated lovers. It’s not clear if the track is a relationship ballad or the story of a crush impeded by self-doubts, but this ambiguity doesn’t impede “Strange” from reveling in its twangy, surfer’s paradise sounds — which give the impression that nothing in life, especially not relationship woes, should be taken too seriously.
The final track, “Later,” is a quieter, singer-songwriter piece with the soothing sounds of summer embedded in its guitar strums and lilting vocals. Its lyrics describe the pains of two people getting to know one another, only to subsequently fall apart, and is stylistically similar to the songs of Field Medic in its use of rambling, emotional lyrics. To understand, in full, the thoughts and emotions behind “Later” may require several listens, but it seems as though this is Options Open’s intention. The duo — which also includes drummer Nick Wagner — wants listeners to un-jumble the puzzle and to take the time to understand the meaning behind the message, or vice versa.
Overall, The Mode is a mellow, introspective take on life’s beginnings and endings, non-starts, and blissful in-betweens. Through its low harmonies and drifting vocals, the EP embodies the nonchalant sounds of summer, ending on an appropriately subdued note to signify the inevitable end of the sunny season. With this release, Options Open provides listeners with an ode to the days that pass us by, the people that evade us, and the sunsets that remain visible just long enough to say goodbye.
The Mode
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