For those unfamiliar with my love for the church basement, T!LT is the quintessential church basement band — raw, loud, and super DIY in the best way. My idea of a good show is one where you find yourself saying a little prayer for the ceiling tiles, and I can only imagine T!LT has been the cause of death of more than a few ceiling tiles over the course of their existence. The indie-punk band’s newest EP, Terra, serves as a reminder that, sometimes, great things come out of Connecticut. For those already familiar, the 7-track EP has a good mix of old(er) and new, and for those unfamiliar — welcome! Here are 7 brand-new-to-you songs!
Terra opens strong with “Movies!,” a track that’s been around for a while and for good reason — it rips. For the uninitiated, it’s a pretty good entry point into what T!LT’s whole vibe is. Kind of grunge, kind of punk, kind of impossible to stand still while you’re listening to them. Terra as a whole seems really well curated, which has become somewhat of a forgotten art in the era of streaming singles. Each track on the EP has its own unique sound to it while maintaining a sense of cohesiveness throughout Terra’s tight ~25-ish minute runtime.
On one hand, I’m sure T!LT is probably tired of being compared to Nirvana, but on the other hand, their 6th track is literally called “Buzz Cut (I Used to Look Like Kurtco Bain but Then I Got A…),” so I’m going to do it anyway. They’re Nirvana-esque, sure, but in a way that sounds referential without ever dipping into cover band territory. This is due in part to the way T!LT has managed to mash together different sounds — while a lot of the instrumentals lie firmly in grunge and punk territory, there are moments (particularly during “ReMO”) that feel almost surf-pop-meets-indie-sleeze.
The EP closes out with “G33kb@R,” a song that I can confidently say I (along with fellow HMM contributor Sydney) was most excited to hear live a few weeks ago. “g33kb@r” is proof that sometimes, the most fun songs are just a little bit dumb — the lyrics are mostly just “got my geek bar” (Honorable Mention Magazine doesn’t endorse vaping, but we also don’t not endorse vaping) and the music chugs along in a way that’s irresistibly catchy. At the end of the day, that kind of seems like these guys’ whole essence — just great, genuine music that doesn’t have to take itself too seriously all of the time.
Check out T!LT on their socials to see what they’re up to next, click some random stuff on their website, and stream Terra on Spotify now!