37 Houses Turn Marriage Chaos Into Indie Rock Gold on “Strangers”
You know sometimes you think maybe your relationship or marriage is probably the worst or the best, but maybe that’s cos you haven’t seen or heard others’ stuffs. Probably yours is just a little fight for who’s supposed to take the trash out or something. Wait, are you someone who likes your rock music polished and perfect, or do you prefer it when you can hear the actual floorboards creaking in the background?
The thing is most people use a journal to vent about their lives, but not with this couple, Erin Sydney and Jeremy Rosenblum instead formed a band. They call themselves 37 Houses, and their new EP, “Strangers“, is basically a front-row seat to their marriage. What makes this EP really introspective is how raw, a little uncomfortable it is, making you have that “should I be listening to this?” feeling. But the beauty of it all is that, it actually rocks.
The San Francisco quartet has been documenting their relationship through music since they got married right before the 2020 lockdown. Their latest project dives into the deep end of their attempt at a polyamorous marriage. If you think that sounds complicated, just wait until you hear the songs. It is indie rock mixed with some gritty post-punk, sounding a bit like a blend of The Breeders and Alvvays.
The first track, “Strangers”, sets the mood perfectly. It has these chiming guitars that suddenly turn into sharp, slashing notes. Erin’s voice is the star here. She has this soaring, powerful way of singing that makes you feel the “exuberance” and the tension at the same time. It captures that specific moment when you look at the person you share a life with and realize things are changing in a way you can’t stop. Like at a point you begin to ask, is this really the person I married? Or I just didn’t know them?
Then you have “Honesty is Everything“. This song actually sounds like a nice piece of advice, but the song makes it clear that being totally honest can hurt like crazy. This is something people don’t master, sometimes you’ve to sprinkle the truth with some lies, because being brutally honest can be derailing. The song has got a great melody that you’ll find yourself humming, even though the lyrics are dealing with some heavy emotional weight.
You this song “Helium”, is probably the most intense of the bunch. It was written after Erin spent a few days with a girlfriend, and it captures the months of “angst” and grief that followed as the couple tried to process those feelings. It doesn’t try to be pretty. It sounds like a whirlwind, mostly because the band recorded the instruments live in a rented house in the Colorado mountains in just four days. They wanted it to sound urgent and unpolished, and they definitely nailed it!
Before listeners are through with the EP, the final track “Eye For an Eye” closes things out with a lot of attitude. The whole EP feels like a tribute to old-school rock where people just cranked their amps and hoped for the best. Since 37 Houses is so focused on their home life, they even recorded the vocals and acoustic parts in their own bedroom. You can really hear that intimacy.
It is a brave record about a very specific, messy moment in time. They didn’t know how their marriage or these songs would end when they started writing them, and to me it makes the music feel alive. It is a wild ride, but it is one worth taking if you like rock music with a real pulse.
Enjoy More From 37 Houses here;
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