By Greg Seremba, Sean Maldjian, Dillon Schwartz, and Justin Christopher Poulin, Contributors

Greg

Kate Rivera’s crisp vocals cut straight through each track as Demeter weaves together a nice blend of acoustic/simplified indie rock. Not to sound like a broken record here but would absolutely love to see how this EP would translate on a stage. Demeter really comes into their own on “Beg, Borrow, Steal” as Rivera channels her inner Joplin. Overall, this is your standard Indie release that can possibly come up just a tad for some listeners.

Sean

Demeter’s EP “The Year of Goodbye” comes across flavorless. There is little going on here that has not been done before in the rock and roll world. The release feels like everyone is going through the motions without any clear direction or statement to make. To make things worse “ The Year of Goodbye” suffers from pretty muddy production. Almost every instrument besides the vocals is indiscernible. Which on a rock album makes for a less than enjoyable listening experience. 

Dillon

Demeter’s recent release “The Year of Goodbye” has the fuzzy clarity of a remembered dream. Affecting in the moment, Kate Rivera’s crystal clear vocal delivery, which rises to the top of the mostly obscured mix, is both powerful and resonant but melts to air upon passing. You know how they say Coca-Cola has a flavor that’s difficult to recall while you’re not actively drinking it? Yeah. That’s Demeter’s sound, and I don’t necessarily mean this in a bad way, I find overall classical rock sensibility on display here to be pleasant, and I enjoy it the whole way through. This is a classic formula executed proficiently, and if Kate’s voice strikes you in a certain way I imagine this album will stick with you for quite a while. Especially close out track Last Year, which really separates itself from the rest of the album and feels like more of a singer-songwriter ballad that Demeter seems to slip into identity-wise in a much more interesting way.

Justin

There's something about this EP that reminds me of Neko Case messing around during a sound check. It has that signature dusty, sun-bleached sound that comes with many indie Americana ("indie-cana?" I don't know) bands these days, but perhaps occasionally mixed with some slowcore deep cuts from the Galaxie 500 catalog. For me, a highlight would be the slow-burning "Joanie," a track that bends a little into more old-school psych territory with its hazy crescendos and the lovely reverb treatment on Rivera's vocals. It's folk balladry with a 90s indie throwback edge. While some tracks ("Rosa," "Last Year") feel a little sleepy, the stronger tracks leave me curious for what a full-fledged album release would sound like.