CORUSCO - WAKE

The three piece Texas indie rock band Corusco has recently released their first full length debut album Wake. The album, produced by Underoath’s Aaron Gillespie, paints a picture for the audience and brings listeners through a box of memories. Corusco are able to provide contrast not only from track to track, but from the beginnings to the ends of songs. Many songs off the album start slow, or simple and are built upon as the track progresses. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re only getting slower ballads with this one! Corusco are able to start off slow in a track and burst through with energy. The track “Stranger” comes to mind, starting with just vocals and a bell synth before picking up the tempo and adding in the full band.

With a consistent style from start to finish, we are presented with that indie rock feel from the beginning that starts to get heavier the further into the album we dive, until it decides to slow back down and ends with a piano ballad titled “Leaves of Grass”. This track on the album provides a great juxtaposition in comparison to the feel of the other tracks. We are presented with some guitar and synth in the background, but vocals and piano take the main focus throughout.  Towards the end of the track, vocalist Aaron Gonzalez gives us the line, “Quivering completely” with a slight vocal quiver to help bring the visual to life.

Corusco build and layer vocals and instrumentals throughout the album such as in the opening track “New Year”. At the end of the track we are given vocal layering featuring the different, familiar vocal themes heard throughout the track. It was a pleasant surprise to hear the line “Please hold me, because my hands are shaking”, from earlier in the song, layered underneath the main vocal line.

The band chose the song “Daughter” as their single and it was a great choice to represent the album. A major theme of Wake is that each song tells a different story. The song “Daughter” gives the listener a story from the point of view of Gonzalez’s mother. This track, like the others on the album, allows listeners to have a glimpse into a personal memory. It is arguably the heaviest sounding song off the album, as you can hear the pain in the lyrics of a mother talking to her father. Interestingly enough, the band hints at the chorus after the first verse through the line, “You’re alone”, but does not bring the chorus in until after the second verse. The track’s counter-part “Stranger” fits hand in hand with “Daughter” to create a story line between the vocalist’s mother and her father. This story starts with the mother questioning her father and his choices, which then leads to the father asking for forgiveness. Something the band does lyrically between these two songs is they bridge the gap and connect them with similar lyrical lines. In “Daughter” the mother is presenting the lines, “I’ll spread your bones like scattered ash/ Across the river where you’ll sleep, forever / And every tear that you have sewn / Will claw its way out of their eyes and grow”. When we get to “Stranger”, very similar lines pop up that states, “Spread my bones like scattered ash/ Across the river where I’ll sleep forever / Every tear that I have sewn / Will claw its way out of my eyes and grow.”

Corusco have crafted a personal narrative of an album for listeners. It is important to really listen to what the band are doing lyrically for this release, as there are some interesting story lines to be told. The band’s album can be found on streaming sites as well as for purchase on their bandcamp!