On January 25th, up and coming artist Corey Nill released his latest EP, Paranoia. Nill is an avid indie rock artist that has gained a following due to his aptitude for various instruments and his upbeat live performances, that gets everyone headbanging vigorously to a song about “Scrap Metal”.
Nill has performed primarily in the local NYC music scene but has gained a decent following in the central PA area. He has performed live at Recordsmith in Mechanicsburg PA and The Bunkhouse located in our hometown of Carlisle.
Nill’s latest EP is packed with punchy guitar riffs and melodies, stealing the listeners attention, even if they aren’t fans of the indie rock genre. Nill’s sound on this record is as if someone mixed The Strokes, Greenday, and Good Kid, creating Nill’s explosive sound. The influence from these famous acts results in the listener experiencing euphoria at the climax of each of his songs.
Paranoia has a total of six tracks, which are neatly packed into a quite short listening time of about fourteen minutes. Even though it’s a shorter listen, Nill’s songwriting leaves the listener wanting more by the end of the fourteen-minute EP. Here are some of the songs that really stuck out to me:
The opening track “Menace” immediately comes out swinging with an extremely catchy guitar riff that will put an earworm in anyone’s ear. This song is very Greenday-esque, from past experiences seeing Nill perform live, he seems very inspired by Greenday and their early discography. His swift vocals throughout the track emphasize various syllables, creating a unique experience for the listener. The mixing of all the instruments and vocals are very clean, which makes listening to this song and EP quite easy.
Secondly, “Drift” seems to be a song about not knowing what path to take in life. The narrator seems to be “going with the flow” and seeing where life takes them. This song has an introspective section stripped down to Nill’s vocals and guitar around the 1:19 mark. That section also has a short little bass lick that adds a nice touch to the track. This track has some similarities to the song “Freaks” by Surf Curse. As always, Nill has an immaculate guitar tone that is very bright and stands out in many of his songs.
Thirdly, the title track “Paranoia” starts off strong with a drums and bass intro, then leads into a looped guitar layer that Nill plays over for the rest of the song. The first guitar layer also seems to have a whammy effect applied towards the end of the riff leaving an exclusive feel. The song brings up general themes of paranoia (What a shock!) and battling anxiety. Scenarios throughout the song leaves the narrator with lots of emotions and thoughts about their own sanity. This track sounds similar to material released by the band Good Kid very recently, in particular the song “First Rate Town”.
Lastly, “Gone Again” starts out with a snappy bassline that intrigues the listener immediately. The bassline sounds like something Mike Dirnt would have cooked up in the mid 90s, which is a tremendous thing to accomplish. Overall, the theme of the song seems to be about the narrator’s significant other leaving them, and their reaction to the whole situation unfolding. The outro seems to be quite melancholic, as if it’s a metaphor for the ending of the relationship.
Paranoia by Corey Nill is a very high-quality EP that should be appreciated by all. The mixing and mastering of the EP were done remarkably well by his friend Trina Egner. The instrumentals were all captivating, keeping the listener interested at all points in the EP. Nill did a great job, and he is an inspiration for many in the indie rock scene.
