Innerlove. - Roscoe

Looking at the song titles on Innerlove.’s debut LP suggests things are pretty bleak for the New York four-piece: the record is littered with songs called “Ain’t Who I Wanna Be,” “Things Stop Working,” “Hectic,” “The Way That I Live,” “Burnt Out.” But listening to it paints a very different picture–this isn’t a band burnt out and over it. Innerlove’s just getting started.

Though the band’s been putting out music since 2019, their first full-length feels like a real introduction. Stray singles like last year’s “The Wringer” have nodded towards country, but the LP fully embraces it. “Things Stop Working” is a full-on roots rock song, and “Trophies” and “26” are Innerlove’s take on bright-eyed folk. Other songs do stay a little closer to the crunchy, rough-hewn indie rock sound the band established on their Fine by Me EP–“10 in the Morning” sways and builds, and “Hectic,” a contender for the band’s best song ever, subtly weaves twangy riffs underneath pop rock melodies. The whole of it is a confident step forward for a band that’s always shown potential. It’s clear, after listening through the record, that this is exactly who Innerlove. wants to be.