On the Record: WhiteBoard PipeDreams Get Real on Sophomore EP “Me and the Moon, Us and the Universe”
Rochester indie-rock quintet WhiteBoard PipeDreams (WBPD) quite literally turned their namesake into reality, producing two albums in two years.
And that’s with all members being under the age of 22.
Formed in a basement in 2016 by high-school friends and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ryan Johnson and songwriter Tom Crowley, the band fully fleshed out the lineup in 2017 by the addition of Spencer Dovi on vocals and bass, Max Kresock on drums and the 2021 addition of Will Kelderhouse on guitar.
In 2020, the world took to their basements with the arrival of COVID-19, and the band went back to their roots before hitting the studio.
After ambitiously recording 16 songs in 24 hours at Rochester, NY’s Blackdog Studios, their debut album Okay, Kid arrived on all streaming platforms and even on (seemingly) anachronistic CDs in September 2020.
Okay, Kid is a mixed bag of raw emotion, the amalgamation of original teenage angst anthems (Special Disco), reflective folk reminiscent of Mumford and Sons (Home) and even a modernized cover of New Year’s staple Auld Lang Syne.
Their debut gained the band a solid local following, garnering over 40k streams worldwide on Okay, Kid, more than 400 monthly followers on Spotify and a myriad of Rochester performances.
Now, in February 2022, the band followed up its debut with a more refined and defined sound on sophomore EP Me and the Moon, Us and the Universe, driven by synth-laden instrumentals and lyrics that reflect the experience of who and where they are now.
Their sophomore release is comprised of just six songs, reflecting a maturity in their songwriting and composition. The album’s sound draws inspiration from the likes of iconic indie trailblazers including Joy Division, Elvis Costello and Depeche Mode as well as relative industry newcomers JOJI, Wild Party and JR JR.
Me and the Moon’s thematic material homes in on more adult sentiments, such as “Beach Fuzz.” The track is a realistic portrayal of heartache when you move thousands of miles away from your partner to the opposite coast, or “Doomed for Sure’s” emphatic realization that the corporate world milks you for every penny you don’t have, so you might as well celebrate your youth while you can.
“Doomed for Sure” proverbially shoves hard-to-swallow pills down listeners’ throats through its unabashedly frank lyricism, addressing themes of corporatism and the inevitable reality that youth is fleeting, quickly.
…but it does hint at the universality of human hope in its pre-chorus, letting the listener know that despite all the obstacles and barriers the world wants to place on the youth, we “won’t give up,” a proverbial middle finger to the tyrants who made it so.
The EP’s lead single, “Madelaina,” proves that no matter how much you mature and how old you become, the longing for a relationship and human desire to love and be loved never wavers.
“Oh, My Days,” the album’s closer, leaves its listeners on a sweet note.
The melodic guitar-fronted track reminds us not to wish our young years away, and to look at ourselves and forge who we want to be, flaws and all. It teaches us to own all the events that molded us into the people we’ve become, to not be a bystander in our own lives.
Me and the Moon, Us and the Universe screams to us from within that we are all undergoing similar experiences together. To relish in the shared misery, confusion, revelations and madness that is the experience of late teen years and early twenties.
WBPD remind us of the importance of finding the extraordinary in the mundane. To savor the small victories.
Through music, they found their solace, and they’ve shared it with us in hopes that we find the smallest slice of our solace in the unexpected, hold onto it, and keep it close.
The most uncertain of times propelled a band formed by high-school friends with a pipe dream and a whiteboard to produce two albums within two years’ time, the second at Mammoth Studios in Buffalo, NY, which landed on the album cover.
WBPD is living proof that sometimes you find exactly what you need in the most unexpected place, and unexpected time.
Ultimately, we all live under the same moon, on a spinning spherical rock in the middle of space.
And we’ve got one shot at it.
So, as WBPD and many others before (and after) will tell you, “don’t give up.”
Listen to Me and the Moon, Us and the Universe here:
