The Almost made a big splash with their debut album, co-released by Virgin Records and Tooth and Nail Records. The “band” features Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie on vocals and guitar as well as being the projects primary songwriter. While fans wait for a new album, Tooth and Nail and The Almost are offering the No Gift to Bring EP, a collection of new and old going in a variety of directions.
The centerpiece here is “Awful Direction,” which launches the EP. It’s a brand new acoustic based song that places the spotlight square on Gillespie’s golden voice. It has a bluesy swagger to it that reminds me a lot of a contemporary take on an old-time gospel track. Gillespie croons a bit on it but you don’t really notice so much because he is surprisingly great at it. Next up is “Little Drummer Boy,” an appropriate tune given the holiday season and his position in Underoath. I sort of cringed a bit, to be honest, when I saw this title on the EP but it’s actually wonderful. It’s a fairly straightforward rendition and pretty hard not to like. The full version of “Amazing Because It Is” and the soft-spoken “Your Love is Extravagant” round out the EP’s proper songs and the hopeful, yet melancholy feel reminds me a great deal of a stripped down version of the latter half of Underoath’s latest offering, Lost in the Sound of Separation. The EP is brought to a close by a remix of “Dirty and Left Out” done by Gillespie’s Underoath bandmate Tim Mctague. It’s definitely a fun experiment and if you look at it as anything more than that, you’ll likely hate it.
With only one slight misfire, this is definitely an EP you want to take the time to pick up and add to your music collection. While I’m still on the fence about which band I prefer, I’m starting to lean towards The Almost over Underoath. No Gift to Bring coupled with Southern Weather make a pretty strong case for this band outliving Underoath, although I hope they coexist peacefully for many more years.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
