Uplifting
OK, I don't generally get personal but I'll have to beg your indulgence for a second to confess that I listened to this album about 6 or 7 times before putting finger to keyboard, not because I had to, but because I enjoyed the record so much I kept getting distracted by listening to it too much to write the review.
Finally I type, listening to said record, which at its core is old school emo meets Discord; however, the raw, emotive and oh so melodic is backed by jagged guitars, odd time signatures and complex progressions. The tunes just grab you by the heart and drag you in to a distorted, fuzz-laden sing along world of goosebumps and screamed-raw throats and punched fists; it's just gloriously euphoric from start to finish.
The Washington quartet have the uncanny ability to create hugely memorable, engaging pop-cored tunes, with tracks like 'Roots Run Deep' which starts aggressively, breaks down into twinkles backed by brass and off kilter percussion and then another of those shining choruses carries things forward. And then you have the insanely infectious 'Diamond Age', 'Glass House' and 'Small Mouth, Big Pizza' which get you bouncing about in no time and trying to sing along even before you've learned the lyrics to those gang vocal shouts.
Monument make this mix of off kilter chords and odd harmonies combined with euphoric melodies sound easy but this record with it's intense layered sounds and complexity was obviously a labour of love. It comes highly recommended.