Some records have a way of staying with you. Forth Wanderers’ Slop is one of them. Coming February 26, 2027 is Slop (10th Anniversary Edition), an expanded version of the original EP, including never-before-released demos of all four songs and back on vinyl after being unavailable for years.
Originally released in 2016, Slop is a perfect document of what made Forth Wanderers so special: bright, unruly guitars, restless rhythms, and vocals, equal parts tender and completely devastating. Four songs that somehow leave you wanting a whole lot more.
Forth Wanderers are five friends from Montclair, New Jersey. Together they make some of the most powerfully intimate and emotive indie-rock music you’re likely to hear. Comprised of singer Ava Trilling, guitarists Ben Guterl and Duke Greene, bassist Noah Schifrin and drummer Zach Lorelli, the group have been prolifically forging musical creations from the bedrooms of their Garden State township since 2013. "In winter of my junior year of high school I was trying to find a way to talk to Ava, who was a freshman at the time and I kind of had a crush on," recalls guitarist and songwriter Ben of the band’s formation. "I had no intention of starting a band, but I thought sending her a demo would be a great excuse to hang out because I knew she sung from middle school. I sent it to her and nothing came of it. We never got together and I forgot about the song, until eventually I received a demo back from her with vocals on and I just thought 'wow'". It’s the kind of story that great songs are written about.
But such is the perfect narrative that preempted the band’s debut EP Mahogany, as the songwriting partnership was completed by Ben’s three best classroom friends, followed swiftly by long-player Tough Love in 2014. Over just four tracks, Slop manages to create an intense impact with the effortless, earnest melody of Ava’s talismanic vocals soaring above the untempered churns of Ben’s haunting, raw guitars. Slop is as euphoric as it is lamenting, with "Know Better" opening proceedings with driving, strident guitar swirls and some real earworm hooks. "Nerves" bursts forth from fizzing, lo-fi shackles to give some of one the band’s most head-nodding moments. Before seismic closer "Unfold" bring things to a heart-wrenching finale "I've been tired of hearing fake speeches, needless to say I’m in love with you..." Ava croons amidst its epic closing bars. "I was going through a weird time," she remembers. "But these songs felt great to write. With every song Ben sent me, lyrics would ultimately pour out." The cathartic reward that Ava speaks of is impossible to escape when listening to Slop, the empathy from laying bare everyday life’s rawest moments.
Slop (10th Anniversary Edition) is a co-release between Father/Daughter Records (North America) & House Anxiety (ROW).
