Oklahoma City emo band Ben Quad have been on the rise, and they just signed to Pure Noise and released their new EP Ephemera, which goes in a heavier, more screamo-oriented direction than the mathy Midwest emo vibes of their 2022 debut LP I’m Scared That’s All There Is. It’s a great EP (read my review in Notable Releases), and for a deeper dive, the band have given us a track-by-track breakdown of the whole thing. Read on for what they had to say.
Ben Quad are on tour now with Prince Daddy & the Hyena (who put out two new songs yesterday), and both bands will support Microwave on the 2024 Pure Noise Tour, alongside Just Friends, starting this Tuesday (10/29). There’s no NYC show on that tour but it’ll be nearby for shows Norwalk, CT’s District Music Hall of November 15, Asbury Park, NJ’s Asbury Lanes on November 16, and Wantagh, NY’s Mulcahy’s on November 17. All dates are listed below.
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TRACK-BY-TRACK BREAKDOWN OF BEN QUAD’S EPHEMERA EP
“I Did Not Create the Rules”
We wanted the first line (“It’ll be like this forever…”) to announce the main topic of conflict in the record. We are forced to survive in the constant hell cycle that is late-stage capitalism. The record as a whole is an exploration of transience. The lines “Well, let me just ask this. Are you only angry now? We’re living anxiously, so why don’t we just burn this?” bring up the ideas of change and rejection of the status quo. The song’s title, like our first screamo endeavor, “You’re Part of It,” is a direct reference to the politically-focused song “American Hearts” by Piebald.
“You’ll Get Nothing and Like It”
This song is about the predatory financial institutions that keep us in a constant cycle of dependency. The spoken world line “You were made to throw away” ties back to the literal definition of an ephemera. We’ll get used up by these financial institutions until it comes time to be tossed aside.
“Your Face as an Effigy”
Lyrically, this is the most open-ended on the EP. This song is about finding solidarity within the group you identify with and overcoming those who seek to ruin you. The music video for the song highlights this concept of solidarity by focusing on the brotherhood aspect of the band. The political undertones of the song title were purposeful in the sense that we wanted to paint a picture of overcoming an unjust system. The inspiration for this song was all over the place – there are spots that we wanted to sound like Deafheaven, Alexisonfire, 2000’s panic chord metalcore, the list goes on.
“Exit Wounds”
This is our most politically forward song on the record. The world is burning and all those complicit laugh in our face. Free Palestine.
“Ephemera”
This song is the boiling point of the record. All beauty and happiness in the world is tainted by capitalism (“Why does every flower wilt away?”). We as victims of a negligent system can only ask ourselves why we continue to accept perpetual cruelty. We brought back the spoken word line in track 2 and used it as the final chorus. “We were made to throw away” is a proclamation that we are nothing more than disposable in the eyes of our supposed protectors.
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