Words by Shawn Kupfer

It can be tough to get a sense of a band from an EP. Five or six songs is usually not enough to get acquainted, to see their range, and to pick a favorite song.

Usually.

Aren’t You Glad? by The White Noise is different. Sure, it’s different in that you get a good read on who the band is and what they can do–but it’s also a different sound. It’s a solid six-song set, and it introduces you to The White Noise by slapping you awake with the punk-timed “The Doctor Will See You Now.”

The rest of the EP builds nicely, showing the band’s range without straying from what they do well — and what they do well is loud, yet catchy songs that are more well-constructed than you’d think.

It’s hard to pick standout tracks when the whole EP is this solid, but “Bloom”, “Red Eye Lids”, and the aforementioned “The Doctor Will See You Now” are all pretty great. But really, with an EP, you don’t need to pick and choose; you can just play the whole album end-to-end without feeling like you need to skip any tracks.

Buy it, Stream it, Skip it: Buy it. It’s like a movie trailer — all of the best bits without the boring stuff in between.