Suffer Summer

On his 2019 sophomore effort, Home Made Satan, Chastity mastermind Brandon Williams toned down the riffs and angst of his projects earlier output in favor of Smiths-y jangle and understated production. Though there was still some distortion and emotional upheaval, both took the form of slow-moving melancholy rather than the Deftones-styled outbursts and Siamese Dream-recalling nostalgia of 2018 debut Death Lust. Third album Suffer Summer reverses course, not just returning to huge dynamic shifts and walls of crunchy power chords, but also embracing more accessible song structures and borrowing the melodramatic delivery of early-2000s mainstream emo. The steel wool hooks of songs like "Dying to Live" and "Pummeling" are great examples of Williams solidifying songwriting style, one where visceral feelings of dissatisfaction and hopelessness are voiced through dissonant guitars that open up into soaring choruses. This time around, however, the vocals are a little higher in the mix, the drums are slicker, and theres a sheen that takes Chastity out of the brooding, misunderstood indie genius category and makes the songs more palatable. This shift is most pronounced on tracks like "When You Go Home I Withdraw," co-written by PUP frontman Stefan Babcock and going all-in on anthemic harmonies and perfectly placed breakdowns. Acoustic heart-string puller "Viscous Circle" is even more commercially geared, with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness strings and belted guest vocals from City and Colours Dallas Green. ~ Fred Thomas