Goings

When Chris Kearney opened up his grandmother’s dance studio after Christmas 2017 to a band of longtime friends, the rest of Goings linked up seamlessly. The Philly band’s debut, a self-titled EP that mapped out influences from Motion City Soundtrack to the Dismemberment Plan, dripped with vibrant synth and textbook-grade time signatures. With an added commitment to expanded dynamics, their debut LP It's For You shows off the group’s complete calling card: one that desperately seeks true togetherness in times of technological oversaturation.

All five members of Goings contribute to a highly collaborative, organic writing process that let arrangements explode past the confidence of alternative rock song structures. "W Blue-Sky Lives" gains its title from a technical glitch resulting in immortality in a digital world. The song brims with vitality, its guitar and synth intro building before spilling over into cascades of percussion and ambience. Other moments indebted to the band’s interest in arranging include the jagged restraint of "Haircut 1000" and the gurgling electronics of the title track. Both have cluttered narratives that hinge on the lives we mold for others despite what they lead for themselves. When mediated through digital streams and blinking screens, connection is anything but.

With deft musical construction, at least Goings knows their number is about to be called. Will you be on the other end?