The New Nervous gets frantic on debut EP

Local band's first album makes social issues listenable and danceable

The local music scene in Utah Valley is hit or miss most times. One of those times when a direct hit occurred was when The New Nervous formed in late 2005. Another direct hit was when The New Nervous released their debut EP, Frantic Is The New Nervous, earlier this year.

Frantic is a solid seven-song effort accompanied by a couple of bonus tracks (practically making it a full-length release). According to the band, the idea of the record stems from the fact that “In a world overwhelmed by sensationalism, being nervous is no longer enough.”

Being nervous may not be enough to get a point across, but Frantic gets its message across loud and clear. An album full of social commentary on hot issues and fresh takes on often abused thematic elements, Frantic is sure to strike a fancy with listeners from all walks of life.

Opening the album is the catchy, fast-paced “Hum.” This track appears to be chronicling the ups and downs in a relationship packaged in a symphonic vocabulary full of new catch phrases and one-liners that could easily grace an infinite number of MySpace profiles. “Hum” also hits some of those bumps and smooth spots in the music as well. As the song opens with a pounding introduction, it immediately slows down as it begins the first verse. Then it speeds up again and takes several twists and turns that weave a beautiful story, punctuated by phrases like “I hear my heart in the stereo, rhythmically repeating.”

Into the middle of the album, “Our Mission Statement” and “Collapse Your Lungs” stand out as tracks that make bold statements about social trends. “Our Mission Statement” feels like a social deconstruction on the entertainment industry's stranglehold on the American public at large ,and how the public sits back and soaks it all in (“Hollywood dictates, you take the notes, on the very paper designed to slit our throats”).

“Collapse Your Lungs” takes on the issue of obsessing over body images as they are portrayed in the media. This story of someone chasing a “perfect” body image is noted in phrases like “pain is pretty,” “your enchantment with enhancement leaves you inadequate” and a line from the title of the track, “collapse your lungs, not enough room in your body.”

Scott Shepard's (vocals, guitar) lyrics are so thought provoking and immediately relevant to today's society while maintaining a sort of timeless quality that gives it staying power. And he takes one last jab at a hot social issue in the last track (not counting the bonus tracks) of the EP with “Pharmacadia.” Most easily The New Nervous' most danceable song, “Pharmacadia” addresses the topic of a societal dependence on prescription medications, as the title implies.

The song sets up a scene where the town of Pharmacadia everyone “thrives on what the doctors prescribe.” But then the song turns to the chant of “let's burn this temple down” and “I've got this body full of chemicals and I want out,” which seems to reference a desire to escape the dependency of drugs and live life without that chemical attachment.

Rounding out the Frantic experience, The New Nervous toss listeners a couple bonus goodies starting with a bare-bones, guitar-and-piano version of “Hum,” which superbly showcases the actual talent that stands at the core of The New Nervous. The other bonus track, “Deathcare Industry” feels like it is deserving of only being a bonus feature on the album. The bass-heavy, Deftones-esque song feels very forced and cliché. It definitely doesn't fit with the rest of Frantic and doesn't really seem to fit in with what anyone would expect from these local dynamos.

No matter the spin you take on Shepard's points of view purveyed in his songwriting, Frantic is a unique and experience with each and every listen. Each song envelopes the overall idea of “being frantic” to attack social issues in a manner that makes people want to hear about them. It addresses what people often choose to overlook without shoving it in your face. Frantic Is The New Nervous is one of the most impressive and powerful debut releases I've ever encountered. It's highly recommended for anyone interested in or a fan of the local Utah Valley music scene.