EXIT WOUNDS - Earth Cadet : Album Review
- Keely Naylon
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Earth Cadet has landed and they come bearing an electric debut album ‘EXIT WOUNDS released October 3rd. An album dripping in heavy chugging riffs and a nostalgic early 2000s alternative-rock sound, Earth Cadet have pieced together a beautiful sonic experience from beginning to the very end.
Off the back of their successful 2024 EP ‘Tales From The End’, ‘EXIT WOUNDS’ is a huge step forward for the Bendigo-based band in both production and musicality and is an exciting indication of the bands’ future.
‘Harder Baby’ powerfully starts the album with a strong, catchy riff and a great gritty, grungy guitar-tone that continues throughout ‘EXIT WOUNDS’. Earth Cadet’s rhythm section of Sam Fidge (bass) and Micah Edmonds (drums) delivers a grooving almost dance beat, catchy and pacey, pulling the song forward.
Released earlier this year, ‘Ladder’ is the second track of the album and feels like it would be right at home in an early 2000s Foo Fighters album. Particularly in its big chunky rock chords and shoe-gaze-like reverb, with whirling lead-guitar parts where notes flow together in a wave of feeling-laced sound.
Sam Edmond’s vocals are captivating, using a mixture of sweet breathy falsetto and a headier, raspier belt that naturally coaxes listeners through an emotional journey with the track.
‘EXIT WOUNDS’ third track ‘Love Dispersion’ has an emo-rock edge that hasn’t yet been present in the albums first two songs, the opening guitar riff sharp and the drum beat rolling, quick, and heavy. Micah Edmond’s drums shine in this track, complex and interesting, with ear-catchy drum fills that aren’t overpowering and serve the anxious, angsty feel of the song. Vocally, Sam Edmond’s performance is rasping and pleading, filled with feeling and intensity.
‘There’s no way we could ever walk back all this pain.’ Sam Edmonds’ sings in the fourth track of the album, ‘Empty Space’. The track follows the emo-rock, shoe-gaze sound, heavier than the previous tracks and laden with a gloomy melancholy evident by Edmonds’ lyrics. Sam Fidge’s rolling bass introduction to the track feels thrilling and threatening, keeping listeners on edge, and sets the emotional tone for the song excellently.
A soft-rock track in ‘Cover Charge’ follows, shifting away from the heavier grungy tone of the album and welcoming a softer sound that shows off Sam Edmond’s sweeter vocals, almost crooning. ‘Cover Charge’ is reminiscent of classic soft Australian rock songs from the likes of Eskimo Joe, with a heavier, whirling, sound to finish out the song as both an acoustic and electric sound meld together.
‘Tomorrow’s Forests’ continues the gentle soft-rock vibe with a space-y, reverb heavy guitar and vocals. The music feels weighty and tangible and continuously builds into an anthemic, full-bodied song. It contrasts beautifully with Edmonds’ raspy, airy, falsetto vocals. An incredible guitar solo singing out in the back-half of the song is a highlight, adding an edge of desperation and the sense of crying out.
The seventh track of the album, ‘Broken Bones’, re-injects the album with a playful energy. Brighter guitar tones, a broad drum beat, and a grooving bass line make the song feel like a return, a coming back up from the lowest point, and whilst still lyrically heavy, musically it feels like taking a needed breath of air. The lyrics referencing the infamous childhood rhyming phrase, ‘sticks and stones and all these broken bones’, contributes to the bright energy yet contrasts with the song's inherently pessimistic outlook, ‘an empty glass no matter what you pour’.
A personal highlight of Earth Cadets’ ‘EXIT WOUNDS’ is the eighth track ‘Syntax Error’. Opening with a manic, electronic whispering that sounds like a desperate radio call on empty, crackling airwaves, the song introduces an unnerving, anxious energy. A heavy-metal post-hardcore inspired guitar riff that sticks throughout the song breaks the tension with the tight drum and bass section. The track also plays with the use of silence delightfully.
‘Syntax Error’ is fun, different from any other song of the album yet shines through as a result, with a gritty vocal performance from Sam Edmonds and the band leaning into the grungy shoe-gaze swirl of sound in the latter parts of the song. It’s a track that would create an electric live performance and leave the audience writhing, jumping, and headbanging.
Returning to an alternative-rock 2000s sound with ‘Ember’, Earth Cadet creates an enjoyable wash of sound, atmospheric and all-encompassing with a reverb heavy guitar and vocals. The last guitar solo is particularly enjoyable, giving a feeling of clinging on, climbing higher and higher, and singing out across the comfortable bed of sound Earth Cadet have built beneath it.
Wrapping up the album is ‘Tales from the End’, sharing the same name as their 2024 EP, this track is rougher, pacey, and feels as though it draws on emo-rock roots. The lead and rhythm guitar parts are reminiscent of classic My Chemical Romance, working in a fretful harmony, fast and energetic and a little rough around the edges. ‘Tales from the End’ feels like a release, yelling out on a mountain top, with a soaring band behind you.
It’s a song you’ll want to listen to until the very end, to linger in the silence, and enjoy every last second. Trust me.
‘EXIT WOUNDS’ is a booming return for this Bendigo-based trio, full of big heart, big riffs, and even bigger sound. Earth Cadet is a band that’s bringing the classics back in the biggest and best way.
For more Earth Cadet find their socials and music links here.
Catch Earth Cadet live celebrating the release of their debut album ‘EXIT WOUNDS’ as they tour Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT.
