Cinders is a Indie Pop / Alternative band out of Salt Lake City, Utah. They consider themselves to be “Rowdy-Acoustic-Pop” and that is exactly what they are! Cinders has an uncanny ability to stay true to the Indie/Acoustic roots but make it loud and exciting! They released their newest record, “Looking Forward to Looking Back” this September and it is awesome.
I was fortunate enough to gain some insight from Cinders! When I asked what their major influences are, they stated Grouplove and The Front Bottoms. “Their use of acoustics in pop-alternative music is awesome!” This was exciting to hear, because I immediately thought of Grouplove when listening to the first song, Tree House, on Cinders’ new album! Just like those bands, Cinders incorporates the “acoustics in pop-alternative music” flawlessly!
I continued by asking the band how they first got into the music scene. Cinders stated “we have always wanted to make music! I don’t know if we ever considered ourselves part of a scene though. We are a pretty goofy group of friends. If we were in a high school cafeteria we would be pretty far from the cool kid table. I say that because in high school we were pretty far from the cool kid table. Nothing gets you pumped like music can. To think that we could have that effect on others is insane. It has always been a dream of ours to play in a band and tour the world. It was just a matter of finding the right people to play with who have the same goals and worth ethic”. I think this might be my favorite quote from the mini “interview”. I love when a band is absolutely genuine and has no issues talking about their past lives. Just like most bands, Cinders has aspirations to travel the world and touch people far and wide with the music they produce. From the way their new album sounds, it’s only a matter of time before they are traveling all over!
I went on to ask Cinders to talk about their new album, and how they feel their music has progressed over time. “We put a lot more into it. There a lot of things we consider before finishing songs now. Knowing that someone in Brazil is going to listen to our music and be searching for their new favorite song carries a large weight. It isn’t strenuous though. It feels more like a responsibility. We want to make sure that everything we put out there is something that our fans will love and something that we are proud of. The biggest difference you will see between this (Looking Forward to Looking Back) and our first record is progression. The sound is much more defined and matured. There are influences of punk fitted in with alternative indie pop songs found on this album. We have aid this pretty often about the new record, but it is much heavier musically and lyrically. We really wanted to put more of ourselves into these new songs”.
Looking Forward to Looking Back is an eleven song banger. There isn’t a song on this record that I don’t enjoy. Some songs that really stand out to me are Tree House, Sleep Walking, and Elephants. Tree House might be my favorite song on this record. I love the fast paced instrumentals on this track! It is the perfect way to kick off the record and get listeners dying to hear more! As I stated earlier, this song has such a Grouplove vibe. Every song I know by Grouplove is one that every person sings along to and dances until they can’t anymore. Cinders created the perfect song to emulate this! I can see fans singing “it’s early, it’s raining, pillows over my head. I’m sleeping for dreaming, so I’ll go back to bed” at the top of their lungs!
Sleep Walking is another upbeat banger that fans will love. This songs reminds me of a Vampire Weekend song and I can’t get enough of it. Fans will be hooked to the high guitar chords and rhythmic drumming that will have them bouncing along! I love the lyrics to this song as well. “It all falls down, they say, living a full life, but only halfway. If I’ve learned one thing, it’d be this; that dreaming’s only dreaming if you’re not afraid to miss, but I’m sleep walking, I’m sleep walking”. In addition to the irresistible instrumentals, Cinders does a great job of incorporating the group yelling of a lyric or two. Fans are going to be screaming those words along with the band every time!
Elephants is the other song that stands out to me the most. I love the way the band slows down the instrumentals and takes a softer indie approach to this one. This is gonna be one of those songs that fans wait for the band to play live so they can sing along. Every band has a slower song that fans fall in love with instantaneously, and this is the one for Cinders!
Cinders is a top Indie/Acoustic/Rowdy Pop of mine. This is a band that I have no doubt will become HUGE; it’s only a matter of time! I only wish I listened to them sooner so I wouldn’t have been missing out these past few months. Make sure you check out their social media pages and listen to songs from “Looking Forward to Looking Back” on the blog’s Spotify playlist: After Hours Review!