Sometimes I'm surprised at how averse I am to change. Hearing that Street Eaters had expanded to a trio caused me more trepidation than I want to admit -- and, like most fear of change, it was all for naught. The band hasn't changed and they aren't spilling over with annoying guitar solos either. They just have a little more depth of sound. Joan Toldeo mostly adds a new layer of textured, melodic noise to the band's already tight sound. The magic of Street Eaters has always been how they find melody while using nontraditional methods and that continues.
If you already know the group, the first thing about Opaque is really that it's a continuation of sound. Nothing has fundamentally changed here. The songs are just traditional enough that I can call it "pop structure" (they are concise and melodic) but with a lot of tasteful experimentation. There are two alternating vocalists: it's not sing-song, but it is sometimes sing-along. The music flows in rhythmic angry bursts contrasted with exploratory experimental devolutions. The band doesn't break off into jam sessions, rather they destruct and reconstruct in between verses. And all of this takes place within songs that tend to be less than 4 minutes. In fact, the whole LP is 7 songs in 25 minutes.
The vibe of this new record matches how many of us feel amid political instability and an adapting post-pandemic world. It's somewhat dreary, like walking through a fog. or maybe that's just the Bay Area influence coming through. But there are also a few tunes that hit more bluntly at the band's punk roots too. "Cuts" starts out like a normal poppy alt-rock song with a peppy beat, but with a subtle dark tone. "No Excuse" is a great example of the band's bass guitar-led, call-and-response style. And then the pain in "Interventions" is palpable. It may be one of the angriest songs I've heard, accomplished via sheer heart and nuance instead of dialing the knobs to 11.
In the end, Street Eaters has added one more to the family but it's the same great balance of punk energy, unique musical twists, that straddles the line between primal anger and human vulnerability.
