January 5th, 2015 
Corey From 
Artist: The Answer Page
Album: The Nightmares of My Dearest Cardinal
Genre: Indie, Shoegaze
Label: Unsigned
Let me tell you a story. I used to blog about very independent bands that are the hidden gems of the internet. The ones that make great music, but just don’t have the resources to get recognized – or haven’t yet acquired them. Or they just like to write. Whatever, that doesn’t matter. But one of my biggest inspirations for that niche that I cornered myself in was The Answer Page, for a lot of reasons. Reasons that I won’t go into.
Instead I’m going to talk about The Answer Page. This was a project by artist Nate McKee that started around 2011. Having moved away from Lawrence, KS, and his previous other band Ten Hour Drive, which had became a name around the Kansas City scene, he was ready to tackle another project in Texas. He had a final goal, which was unknowingly, at the time, The Nightmares of My Dearest Cardinal. But he wanted to perfect his craft to get to where he wanted to go. So he released two albums, one in 2011–Orca–and one in 2012, titled Featureless Beast. Both records got mega coverage from the Houston Chronicle, Birp!, and even the now-defunct Pitchfork spin-off, Altered Zones.
This release has been on my most anticipated albums list for awhile, and now finally, almost two years from the last effort, McKee finished the record and released it for free last week.
The album is a hard hitter all the way through, even in the softer, more down-ridden parts. If you take the time and go back to his first two albums, and then listen to this, you can hear how everything down to the mix is nearly perfected. McKee has perfected his craft and transitions back and forth with ease. It’s all very fitting, as lyrically the album contains some tough, raw, emotional subject matter. The whole goal of The Answer Page was for McKee to tell his story about the loss of his mother to suicide and get it out in the best way he knew how – through music.
Having talked to him about some of the record, I understand some of the cool things that is included in his music. For instance, the record starts with (and is perfectly timed throughout) the slight hint of a TV salesperson, which he has said is something like QVC. As most of the record talks about his nightmares and dealing with them after his mom’s death, the reasoning for the salesperson underlay responds to his need to not feel alone when waking up from the nightmares.
The desperation of the subject matter is captured instrumentally through songs like “Cherry Mash” where the song starts off with this reverb that makes you feel so empty and alone. Besides a faint guitar part, all you can hear is the TV background noise. The song transitions into the first nightmare, aptly titled “Nightmare #1,” where it sounds like multiple guitar riffs crash into each other, seemingly resembling ordered chaos. As mentioned, the album has all kinds of ups and downs, but it works, especially in the context of the content and history of The Answer Page. My only complaint of this album is that it’s too short. But I’m sure McKee would suggest differently.
If you like intense, emotional and meaningful journeys, give this record a spin. Hell, McKee has put the album for streaming on his Bandcamp site, with a ‘Name Your Price’ option that will go to a future vinyl pressing. So please, go check out this record. I can not recommend it enough.
SCORE: 9/10
Review written by Corey From
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