The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Friday, March 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Music Review: I Was Totally Destroying It

IWTDI delivers potent rock

There are some bands whose heartache and triumphs transmit like whispered confessions. Even with a fast tempo, meaning is veiled in metaphor, shrouded in reverent angst and symbolism.

Thankfully, Durham’s I Was Totally Destroying It is nothing like those bands. Here, there are no plaintiff cries or bedroom sobs — it’s all riffing guitars, sharp barbs and the kind of honesty that’s so true it hurts.

That’s not to say that Preludes, the group’s adrenaline-spiked latest, lacks any of the introspection or depth that its competitors flaunt.

Instead, I Was Totally Destroying It spits epithets and observations like bullets, with a rapid-fire delivery that leaves layers to examine even after several listens.

The album’s instantaneous appeal is one of its strongest — and most easily recognized — assets. While that’s nothing new, especially in the wake of 2009’s likeable Horror Vacui, Preludes is exceptional in its relentless charm.

Opener “Wrecking Ball” is a distorted, tangled ode to destruction, be it self-targeted or otherwise, and from the first harmonized lilt of its R.E.M.-esque vocals, it sets out on a warpath of catchy choruses and refrains that aim as much for your feet as your brain.

I Was Totally Destroying It’s brand of pop-rock is of the tightly wound variety, full of bouncing rhythms, skittering keyboard progressions and anxious, frantically sung lyrics. While songs like “Control” deal with the helter-skelter nature of relationships, life and the insanity therein, there is no whining on Preludes. This is the smart person’s lament, one that’s as cathartic as it is contemplative.

For a set of songs that are as gritty and honest as they are engaging, the album’s smooth coat of studio luster comes as somewhat of a surprise.

Tracks like “When Chaos Comes” strike an ideal balance between pristine male-female harmonies and throbbing guitars, and the synthy, Joy Division influence on “Out Tonight” never veers into stylization.

While it’s largely successful, there are a few moments where the band errs. “Fight/Flight” drags on just a little bit too long — a slower, piano-driven track that could do without the minute or so of wails and riffs.

But on the whole, the record is an alluring example of just how infectious well-crafted, fast-paced pop-rock can be. The most winsome facet of Preludes isn’t its earworm hooks or its polished sound. It’s the raw honesty with which the songs are delivered.

You could even call it heartbreaking — but surely this band doesn’t have time for that kind of sappy, sorrowful stuff. I Was Totally Destroying It is too rock ‘n’ roll for that.

Contact the Diversions Editor at diversions@dailytarheel.com.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.

Special Print Edition
The Daily Tar Heel's Collaborative Mental Health Edition