Crossed Wires - Ellipsis

Noyes Records
(NR052: 708527230404/NR52-3/NR052-4)

$20.00

Release date: 9/15/2023

Limited edition of 200 translucent blue vinyl LP.

In the seven years since we last heard new music from the Halifax pop-punk trio Crossed Wires, the world has faced its fair share of unprecedented events… Who could blame a band for its bleak 2023 outlook (and bad backs)?

On Ellipsis, its third EP, Crossed Wires rips through whole theories, scenarios, and story arcs in six songs. Oh, it sounds fun—built atop Kayla Stevens’ (Vulva Culture, Valerie) innovative and incendiary guitar lines—but singer/bassist Heather Grant’s sardonic lyrics detail confusion, fear, and apathy for a life that often feels hard to live with all of these other things going on.

After a pair of lo-fi EPs, Crossed Wires installed Palmer Jamieson from Halifax’s Golden Palm studio to boost the shine on the new songs. His indie-rock informed production offers a previously unheard sheen that, instead of flattening and glossing-up, highlights and elevates elements that have historically gone understated, like Grant’s vocals and Stevens’ guitar work, which soar in the mix as the band’s standout draws. Drummer Jonny May—new to the fold after a decade with Dewayne Shanks as anchor—offers rhythm that borders on tasteful in its restraint, hanging back and blending in for a more cohesive feeling than the standard frenetic, out-of-control timekeeping synonymous with the genre.

If an ellipsis leaves room for more, then so surely does Ellipsis: kicking your head off and commiserating with you in fewer than 15 minutes flat. But for those six songs, Crossed Wires has you in its grip, vital and thrilling.

1. Looped
2. Rain
3. Good Guy
4. Smile
5. Safe and Sound
6. Lumbar