Ears Wide Open: Mourners

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Mourners (Photo by Natalie Escobedo)
Mourners (Photo by Natalie Escobedo)

Jarrod Gorbel is getting back to basics. The singer-songwriter-guitarist fronted the Honorary Title for two albums and handful of EPs last decade, went solo for an album and two EPs from 2009 to ’11 and then joined up with Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett in Night Terrors of 1927, a modern pop outfit that sizzled, then fizzled before announcing their demise this past May.

Gorbel, with bassist Eliot Lorango and drummer Will Noon (Fun, Breaking Pangea, Straylight Run), debuted today as Mourners. Their first single “American Sign Language” is loud, raw and cathartic — Weezer power chords all dressed down for Emo Nite, the sound of veteran hands rediscovering the energy they had as kids in a basement. In a word, refreshing. The trio is recording songs for an EP they plan to release next year.

||| Stream: “American Sign Language”