EP Premiere: Walter Etc. – ‘Chaparral’

Posted: 11th December, 2018 by The Editor

December, that magical time of year where we gather with our families to open gifts and argue about politics, we eagerly await the promises of a new year filled with opportunities to better ourselves (or foolishly sign up for Planet Fitness Black Cards and regretfully watch them take $21.99 out of our bank account each month knowing there’s no way in hell you’re going back to the gym), and for some of us, we arbitrarily rank our favorite albums of the year (FYI our list rules). It’s an honor to be able to highlight some of the more under-appreciated albums of the year that go mostly unnoticed from bigger sites, but unfortunately not every great release from 2018 finds its way on there. For instance, sometimes a band who’s already more than proven their bona fides, let’s use Walter Etc. (formerly Walter Mitty and His Makeshift Orchestra) for example, drop an EP out of nowhere in, hmm, let’s say the middle of December, which as you all know is after we’ve already agreed what our favorite releases of the year are.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, a band would NEVER do that. Nobody would ever be foolish enough to drop a kickass EP in the middle of December for fear of missing out on all that sweet sticky year end bliss. Guess what? That’s exactly what happened. Walter. Etc have returned with their excellent new EP Chaparral, out 12/12 via Counter Intuitive Records, and you can stream the entire thing here before it drops. Chaparral takes Walter Etc.’s jangly guitars and breezy rhythms in a slight new direction—tracks like “Tolerance Break” and “Flat Earth Angel” are aural bliss, drowned-out in the woozy textures they’re built upon. At only five tracks, the EP’s conciseness works in its favor, crafting a hazy atmosphere that marks another leap forward for the band.

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Pre-order Chaparral on 7″ Vinyl from Counter Intuitive Records

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Michael Brooks // @nomichaelbrooks

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