Review: A Common Year – Where the Light Still Shines

February 23rd, 2012

Ethan Merrick

Artist: A Common Year
Album: Where the Light Still Shines
Genre: Indie-rock/Pop
Label: Unsigned

The do-it-yourself approach to being in a band has seemed to have served A Common Year well these past several years. For their debut album Between Cities the band had handled all of the recording, mixing and mastering of the record. The amount of passion and effort that the band had put into the album was obvious to anyone who listened to the album. For their follow up, A Common Year have released Where the Light Still Shines, a five track EP.

Where the Light Still Shines could be considered as a companion EP. As the five tracks consist of unreleased songs that were recorded after the band had wrapped up recording Between Cities. Occasionally companion EPs are comprised of lackluster tracks that did not deserve to be included on the album, but the band still felt obligated to release them anyways. However, that is not the case with Where the Light Still Shines. The EP, clocking in at twenty minutes, wastes no time with boring filler; as the album is composed of rich indie-rock anthems, delivered by Casey Baska’s powerful vocals. The general feel and sound of Where the Light Still Shines is rather reminiscent of the instrumentation and vocal performance of Kings of Leon if they had been influenced by indie-pop musicians such as Mae and Sherwood.

A Common Year continue to establish themselves as one of the up-and-coming bands that should be taken note of. Their music is a mixture of rich, anthemic vocals with charming pop instrumentation. Where the Light Still Shines is a satisfying release, encapsulating all of the most enjoyable aspects of A Common Year. Hopefully A Common Year won’t wait too long until they release their next album.

Score: 7/10
Reviewed by: Ethan Merrick