Contrary to what their name suggests, Forth Wanderers haven’t strayed far from their starting place. The five-piece band out of New Jersey, led by vocalist Ava Trilling, has found their recipe — a mournful, yet strangely catchy guitar melody followed up by a slightly tweaked by-the-book drum beat, which serves as embroidery for the main appeal of Ava Trilling’s all-knowing and all-feeling voice. Forth Wanderers’ songs can at times run together into some sort of omni-track that cries every sad teenage ballad, but the band isn’t a one-trick pony. Instead, Ava Trilling is a master of subtlety.
On one listen-through, “Slop” would seem to offer nothing to the rainy and dark-green landscape that Forth Wanderers have painted with their past two releases. Indeed, their first track off their first release “Mahogany” has some striking parallels to the first song off their latest release, “Slop.” Listening to each song side-by-side reveals similarities not only sonically and lyrically, but also structurally.
Both start with the same guitar effect only to be backed-up by a burst of Trilling’s voice and the drums that come in unison. However, these similarities are only surface level. The songs are complex enough to give platform for the rich intricacies the quintet uses to distinguish each song. Just like watching baseball or soccer, without a deeper understanding and appreciation for the intimate nuances of their work, it may appear to be repetitive. And even if it is, Forth Wanderers would be foolish to let go of a sound so encompassing and infinitely rewarding.
The allure that gives “Slop” such character can be pinpointed in the timeless talent of Ava Trilling. Though just out of high school, Trilling will surprise listeners with a maturity and prescience that speaks to all stages of life. But to say her lyrics are universal would be to sell her short.
Part of the genius of Forth Wanderers is their ability to stoke the pain of pre-adult but post-adolescent life. They do so with the expertise of someone reflecting back on the past, but also with the immediacy and genuineness of a soldier stuck in the middle of the battlefield. Trilling captures that transitional loneliness that comes from the in-between time of leaving home and settling elsewhere in “Know Better.” She touches on issues of fear and incapability in regards to her future on the namesake track “Slop.”
No matter what angle you look at it, the ache of “Slop” serves as one long and lonely ode to the difficulty of feeling too mature for high school but too childish for adulthood. As full-bodied and romantic as red wine, Ava Trilling’s voice makes Forth Wanderers one of the most important listens of this year.
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