San Diego based artist Eric Schroeder is set to release his breathtaking album Turned On The Stereo on April 27, 2024. Anti Pop Punk Pop Punk Club has the pleasure to listen to it and advance and give you a heads up on its overall vibe and feel.
Before the album review, let’s head on first to meet Eric Schroeder. He is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and pop-rock polymath. If you were to ask him how he’ll describe himself and his music, he’ll probably tell you that it is a study of contrast and contradictions.
His music is both rugged and ragged, passionate and purposeful, reckless and romantic yet disciplined and dignified, Schroeder’s songs sound like they could be a half-century old, yet they crackle with anger, heartache, and frayed nerves primed for our all-consuming contemporary hyperreality, in which all bets are off and we’ll be shocked when we learn what’s already happened.
Turned On The Stereo is an album produced by Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Kurt Vile). Within a consistent songwriting framework, Schroeder finds a fresh language for a broad spectrum of reverberating memories and convulsive revelations. On a tight record with nary a second wasted, he packs pitch-dark lyrics in sweet cascades of harmony (“Stayed the Same”), snarls with nervy, wounded rebellion (“Never Go Away”), and sways with woozy, majestic brilliance (“The Kind of Wound That Never Heals”) – all while maintaining a delicate balance of discipline in craft and purity of expression.
Going back to Schroeder’s LP, the thrilling opening song is Plan For Me. It’s line “Open up and let me in, I just wanna be your friend” is a fitting first song for the album. Other than the song lyrics, the song’s overall vibe is like a breakfast for a day-full of activities. Filling, and makes you ready for the next steps you need to take.
The Kind of Wound That Never Heals is the second track of the album. In my interpretation, this song talks about the wound inflicted internally, inflicted within. The most impactful line from this song for me personally is “The belt around your arm, does more pleasure than harm.”
The album’s third track is Stayed the Same. The vibe of the lyricism in this song gives off a change of pace and environment from what you are used to. It gives an energetic mood and vibe yet the lyrics feel like a lullaby and calm the listener down. Here I am alone and wishing, that everything stays the same, who doesn’t want that, right?
For the shocking fourth track, Mother Said, Schroeder talked about the manipulation that is taking place so that people around you will despise you. It also touched on the persona’s loved one’s loyalty, reflecting on the lines You talked bad about me, to all my friends, it doesn’t matter too much in the end.
Claire’s Song, the album’s fifth track, is giving a “Looking out for one another”. The lyrics You did everything to fix me” feel very heartwarming to hear from a pop-rock album. Never Go Away and Easier Way To Go are two contrasts of two subsequent songs. Two songs that both talk about staying but choose a different appeal for one another. Easier Way To Go personally has more appeal than the former. The lines Throw my ticket out the door cause I don’t need it anymore, Through the window clear as day, another reason I should stay.
Do Done is an amazing and enigmatic song as well, it feels and sounds as if it was a puzzle that fits the album well. My favorite song from the album would be Turned On The Stereo. As a psychological horror fan, this song is a very suitable soundtrack for this movie genre. It talks about never escaping the persona, no matter what you do. Eric Schroeder is an artist worth the listen and the follow. Go and support him on different music platforms and follow his social media accounts as well!
Listening to this album is like taking a chaser after drinking a liquor. It washes off the tension and makes you feel satisfied with the journey you took. Eric Schroeder is an artist worth the listen and the follow. Go and support him on different music platforms and follow his social media accounts as well!
Follow Eric Schroeder
About the Author
Angel Mariah Rodiel – Mari to the people she’s fond of – is a BA Literature student currently studying in Central Luzon State University. Writing, arts, and music are some of the things she’s been most passionate about ever since she was a kid. Mari’s little dream is to build a band that will open for Paramore’s concert someday. Pop-punk and alternative rock are her comfort music genres, K-pop and J-rock comes close as third and fourth.
