It’s almost like Suitor knew they couldn’t just be a band who made really impressive post-punk that checked all of the right boxes without any flaw in its design. Initially, vocalist Emma Shepard and guitarist Chris Corsi — then working as a man-at-arms in every instrument — began the band the as a duo. With their two heads together, they recorded a promising debut full-length in 2021’s Communion. The scrappy listen was wired goth-adjacent in a manner that followed familiar angles plotted by the scene’s past purveyors of the dark. Essentially, a solid foundational point to build off on.

Yet, Shepard and Corsi knew the center could not hold with their hands alone, and with the expansion of the band into a live-friendly formatted quintet featuring bassist John Corsi, guitarist Stephen Ovak, and drummer Ryan Matricardi, the promise of Suitor has redefined itself — sweepingly at that. On their sophomore follow-up, Saw You Out with the Weeds, the Cleveland post-punks not only expand the body count in the room, but the capacity within their sound to coexist as a shimmering, dancing prism as well one that smears glitter across the dark. Brighter colors contrasting undercurrents in monochrome dissolve their past’s sharper corners, and instead bring something more fluid to the forefront of their energy.

Opener “Model Actress” is a passionate punch, with that punky kineticism percolating throughout in tracks like “Sentimental Talk” and “In The Country” where the band softens clashes between spikey guitar waves and rampant grooves with cool control. With Shepard at its center, it’s like they’re inhabiting the eye of a surrounding storm. “Blank Americana”, “Factory”, “Generator”, and “Dull Factory” are life-in-late-stage-capitalism pillars that slink and blinker their malaise through churning melodicism while any and all linearity distorts because of the affects of a banal reality. Boredom and repetition never sounded so sensory spectacular.

Behind the boards, producers Caufield Schnug and Lira Mondal of Sweeping Promises deserve a shout out for texturizing Suitors’ juxtaposed elements with the right mix of stylistic nuance, mending their vibrant pop hooks, punk ridges, and internally gothic spirit through a DIY coating that crackles and bleeds all over. Let this be a reminder that while post-punk music has more often than not become a rigid exercise in focused execution, Suitor’s Saw You Out with the Weeds is evidence that you can accelerate its sound just as well by allowing its foundation to crumble.

Highlights: “Model Actress”, ‘Blank Americana”, “Factory”

Suitor’s Saw You Out with the Weeds is available now on Feel It Records.

Buy | Stream